Ethiopian Food: Vegan-friendly Food
Let me introduce you to a world-famous cuisine that’s tasty and vegan-friendly: Ethiopian food (abesha migib).
In Ethiopian culture, veganism and vegetarianism are not just niches, rather ways of life. If you want to adopt a plant-based diet, Ethiopian food is right for your lifestyle. It’s flavorful and nutritious.
Not convinced Ethiopian food suits you? We can combine a plate of veggies with a wealth of meat options, such as,begg wot (lamb stew), sega tsebhi ,sega wot (beef stew), tsebhi derho ,doro wot (chicken stew), and many other delicious varieties. Wot- Amharic Tsebhi -Tigrinya
Ethiopian food reveals long-established values and norms hailed over generations.
In Ethiopian Jewish tradition,Ke’daam, Senbet Shabbat (i.e., the weekly Sabbath) is when families gather together to eat sega (meat), assa (fish), and/or derho (chicken). Ethiopian Jews honor the Sabbath from Friday evening until Saturday sundown, which is a common practice across the board among observant Jews.
In Ethiopian Jewish communities, weekdays are when family members eat timtemo ,messer wot (lentils), shiro (chickpeas), kik alicha (yellow split peas), hamli , gomen (collard greens), duba pumpkin stews, and many other vegetable stew choices. Not only is there a separation of meat and dairy throughout the week, there is a difference between weekdays and Shabbat observance.
On Friday evening, Jews welcome the Senbet , Shabbat. Thus, enters the Shabbat queen, which is not business as usual. It’s a whole different story.
Mothers and daughters in Ethiopian Jewish homes prepare the Shabbat meal starting Thursday of each week. The excitement includes responsibilities, like cleaning the chicken with lemon and salt, to make silsil (i.e., the stew base for doro wot), making injera from scratch, concocting tej (i.e., honey wine) and homemade talla beer, and baking dabo (i.e., fresh bread); this is all to welcome Shabbat.
Cooking Ethiopian food is time-intensive. We use low heat and slow cook onions often with berbere powder to spice things up during the process. Producing an Ethiopian stew can take hours. Once on a bed of injera, a traditional Ethiopian meal travels fast. As they say, the quickest way to the heart is through the stomach.
Ethiopian cuisine invites partakers to an array of delicious stews from lamb to beef to chicken - all slow cooked on low heat for hours, as the rich ingredients melt into each other and complement one another, served always on a bed of injera.