Msir wot, Ethiopian red lentils stew
This dish, also known as "misir wat", is a staple from Ethiopia. It's a straight-forward red lentils stew, with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and a specific spice mix called berbere.
Serves: 8-12 (depending whether it's a main course or side dish)
Preparation: 10 minutes (excluding overnight soaking of red lentils)
Cooking: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Msir wot is a popular Ethiopian vegetarian dish, which is turned vegan by opting for margarine instead of clarified butter (actually, an Ethiopian seasoned clarified butter called niter kibbeh). I remember enjoying an Ethiopian dinner in Paris with a friend, back in 2006 or 2007. I re-discovered Ethiopian cuisine in 2018 thanks to a food truck close to where I worked. And I loved it! Msir wot showcases how much Indian and African cuisines share in common, as it is similar to masoor dal. Msir wot uses the same red lentils as masoor dal, and they can hardly be replaced by others due to their ability to feature a purée-like texture after cooking. Msir wot uses a specific spice mix called berbere.
About berbere
Berbere is a powder mix of several spices, some of which can be very difficult to find depending on where you live. It’s the Ethiopian counterpart of the Indian masala, and it gives the unique, distinctive flavor of this dish. If you like msir wot a lot, and can find most of the ingredients (for example in an Indian shop), I recommend you prepare your own berbere — don’t worry if you miss one or two, it will already give a great taste. You can buy it from specialized shops, and I’ve recently seen berbere in a standard small glass container while shopping at one of my usual supermarkets. There are other Ethiopian recipes I’m looking forward trying (and sharing!) which require berbere, like doro wat.
Ingredients
450 g dried red lentils
400 g chopped tomatoes (a can will do if you don't have fresh tomatoes)
280 g concentrated tomato paste
1 garlic head (approx. 12 cloves)
3 red onions
12 spoons of vegan margarine (be cautious: not every margarine is vegan; oil could also do the job, though I haven’t experimented which one works best, so I have no recommendation)
1-2 dried vegetable broth cube (I used 1.5)
Berbere spice mix (at least 12 spoons, more if you like it hot)
1.6 L of water
Salt
Preparation
This recipe doesn’t require much from you before cooking. Still, you need to prepare ahead of time, since you need to soak lentils overnight. Overnight here means any duration between 8 to 14 hours. You can for example soak the lentils in the morning to cook the msir wot in the evening.
Wash and rinse the red lentils until water is clear; cover with water and leave to soak overnight; before you start cooking, remove the soaking liquid
Prepare 1.6 L of vegetable broth by combining 1.6 L of hot water (boiling water is good) with the vegetable broth cube(s)
Dice the red onions
Finely slice the garlic
Cooking
The cooking part of the recipe isn’t complex, and you’ll be able to leave the kitchen in-between some of the steps. However, step 9 is long and requires you are cautious not to let lentils burn at the bottom of the pot. I recommend you put a timer every 10 minutes to remind you of coming back.
Heat a large stewpot on medium flame/power
When the stewpot starts to get hot, add 10 out of the 12 spoons of margarine (keep the remaining 2 aside), and the chopped red onions
Cook for 8 minutes, stir frequently
Add the garlic, the chopped tomatoes, the tomato paste and a third of the berbere spice mix (4 spoons in my case)
Stir well, lower the heat so it cooks without burning; it shall be gently bubbling
Cook for 10 minutes, stir occasionally
Add another third of the berbere spice mix, the red lentils, the vegetable broth, and a pinch of salt
Bring the pot to boil; it shall be nicely bubbling, without throwing liquid outside of the pot
Cook for 1 hour; stir regularly, lower progressively the heat as the water evaporates, to prevent it from burning at the bottom of the stewpot
Add the last third of berbere spice mix, the remaining margarine, and salt to your taste ; stir to mix the last ingredients
You can serve immediately, or close the lid and let it cool down, to re-heat the next day. If you do so, the flavors will mingle better, the whole dish will have an even taste; no bite will feel stronger than another. The msir wot can be enjoyed on its own, with long-grain rice, and/or with an injera. Injera is an Ethiopian, teff-based sourdough flatbread which is like a crêpe. It is used as a spoon, and eaten progressively as it soaks into the msir wot sauce.
This can also be a side dish of a larger meal, like it was at the time I took the pictures. I then served the msir wot with a Senegalese vegan chicken yassa, along with a one-off dish in which I combined okra and cassava root cooked in coconut oil and miscellaneous spices. Leave a comment if you’re interested in the recipe of vegan chicken yassa.
Enjoy!
If you’ve tried the recipe, and would like to comment - whether you loved it, or hated it - please do so. I’m welcoming ideas, even if these are non-vegan recipes I’ll have the challenge to “veganize”.
Here’s a tip before you go
If you’re not looking after the cooking, stirring regularly, lowering the heat progressively, you may end up having lentils burning at the bottom of your stewpot. Since there’s a step to cook for 60 minutes, you’re likely doing something else in parallel, to make the best use of your time. If it happens that lentils have burned, I provide you with three general options (not specific to this recipe):
Grate the bottom with a spatula, and mix with the rest; you risk giving the entire dish a burned taste, which can do well if it’s subtle, or if your dish has already a smokey flavor
Save your dish and leave the burned layer at the bottom; after retrieving the content of the stewpot, you can cook onions on low flame/power, which will unstick the burned layer; if you like the taste - and very few do - you can pimp rice or pasta with this mix of burned lentils and onions
Leave it as is during cooking, and deep clean your stewpot to remove what has stuck to the bottom; too bad you’ll throw this away, though it’s a learning to cook on lower flame/power the next time
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