Recipes from Home

Twenty-four dishes cooked the way they are cooked at home — measured by handfuls, tasted often, and written down here for the first time.

1. 01

   Doro Wat

   Ethiopia · 3 hrs · Serves 6

   Onions browned slow with no oil, berbere stirred in spoon by spoon, chicken and eggs at the very end.

2. 02

   Zigni

   Eritrea · 2 hrs · Serves 4

   Beef simmered in a deep red sauce, torn injera underneath to catch everything.

3. 03

   Bariis Iskukaris

   Somalia · 50 min · Serves 5

   Rice steamed with cardamom, cinnamon and raisins, served beside goat and banana.

4. 04

   Shiro

   Ethiopia · 25 min · Serves 3

   Ground chickpea flour whisked into garlic and onion until it thickens and sighs.

5. 05

   Sambusa

   Somalia · 1 hr · Makes 20

   Thin pastry folded around spiced beef and green chilli, fried for Ramadan evenings.

6. 06

   Himbasha

   Eritrea · 1 hr 20 · Serves 8

   Sweet cardamom bread pressed with a sun pattern before it goes into the oven.

• Berbere ground by hand keeps its perfume for a month in a sealed jar.
• Injera batter needs three days to sour properly — start on a Thursday.
• Every family salts differently. Taste before you trust a measurement.