Ethiopia | Stew

Misir Wat

Name: Misir Wat
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6 bowls
Cuisine: Ethiopia, East Africa
Ingredients: 2 cups red lentils, rinsed; 2 large onions, finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated; 3 tbsp berbere spice; 3 tbsp oil or niter kibbeh; 5 cups water or vegetable stock; salt, to taste

Ethiopian red lentil stew cooked with onion, garlic, ginger, berbere, and spiced oil until soft and fiery.

Country

Ethiopia

Region

East Africa

Time

55 min

Serves

Level

easy

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Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Misir wat is one of the dishes that makes an Ethiopian platter feel complete: red lentils, berbere heat, slow onions, and enough simmering for the lentils to collapse into sauce.

What the dish tastes like

Ethiopian red lentil stew cooked with onion, garlic, ginger, berbere, and spiced oil until soft and fiery.

When to cook it

Best for Best for vegetarian platters, fasting meals, and make-ahead cooking., with a easy cooking level and about 55 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Injera, shiro wat, gomen, and mild vegetable sides.

Regional lane

Injera and wot table. Stews, sauces, and flatbread built for communal injera service.

Chef watch-outs

Stopping the base before the pepper, onion, or spice edge has mellowed.
Thinning the pot before the body of the soup or stew has developed.
Rushing the rest or fermentation period.

How you know it is ready

The sauce should coat the spoon and taste rounded, not watery or raw.
The bread or batter should smell pleasantly fermented, toasted, or nutty rather than floury.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.

Pantry lane

teff, berbere, mitmita, niter kibbeh, split peas

Chef board

Build the table around Misir Wat

Injera, shiro wat, gomen, and mild vegetable sides.

Best route from here

Injera and wot table

Collections to keep cooking

Ethiopian Fasting Table

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Ethiopia

4 steps 55 min total easy

Cook onions

Cook onions in oil until soft and sweet, then add garlic, ginger, and berbere.

onion base 15:00

Add lentils

Stir in rinsed lentils and coat them in the spiced onion mixture.

coat lentils 03:00

Simmer

Add water or stock and simmer until the lentils collapse into a thick stew.

lentil simmer 30:00

Finish

Season with salt and loosen with hot water if needed before serving.

finish 03:00

Some cooks use niter kibbeh for richness, while fasting versions use oil and remain vegan.

Misir Wat

What to know before you cook

Build the table around Misir Wat

Step-by-step method

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Genfo

Gomen