This is a recipe my mom ported to Italy from her birthplace - Ethiopia. It's a meat based spicy dish (and my favorite one), using a spice mix called berberè.
- 1 Kg of meat
- 1 big onion (chopped in small pieces)
- 2 hg of butter
- 2 cans of peeled tomatos
- 4 spoons of berberè
Melt the butter and the add the onion, making it brown a little. Then add the berberè and mix it all togheter. After it is completely amalgamated, add the meat, mixing, then the tomatoes (keep mixing!). A spoon of olive oil, then salt (as needed - taste it).
Let it cook for 3 or 4 hours until it becomes homogeneous and the meat tender. Use a very low flame on your stove.
That's it. You can make it more or less spicy, adding or removing berberè spoons.
If you'd like to see an original zighinì recipe, here's you the one written by Tesfai. Tesfai was an old cook working in West Darfurat at the end of the eighties, employed by an Italian consortium which carried out a major project of roads, wells and rehabilitation of hospitals. Look at the Tesfai recipe.
The Tesfai recipe is a copyright © 2004 of Il Corno d'Africa.