Berbere (Ethiopian Spice Blend) (2024)

FAQs

What is Ethiopian berbere spice made of? ›

The key ingredients are usually red chili peppers, fenugreek, and ginger, with the addition of warm spices like coriander, cardamom, allspice, cumin, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and some lesser-known indigenous spices such as korarima, ajwain, and long pepper.

Stir berbere into yogurt for a quick dip for raw vegetables. Add a teaspoon of berbere to your corn for easy elotes. Toss lots of berbere with diced potatoes or cauliflower heads in before oven-roasting. Warm it in melted or olive butter before drizzling over steamed vegetables.

1. Curry Powder. While curry powder has a more earthy rounder heat than the fresh complexity of berbere spice, curry powder works in a similar way to berbere spice. Depending on the curry powder you may want to use less to start and add more as needed.

Berbere provides essential vitamins and minerals like Vitamin C and potassium. Additionally, its chili peppers offer a natural source of capsaicin. The compound responsible for the spicy taste has been found to provide anti-inflammatory benefits and boost metabolism.

Berbere. If there is only one spice to have for Ethiopian stews and stir-fries, it should be Berbere.

Berbere is a staple spice blend in Ethiopian cuisine. Made up of a number of spices that are roasted and ground, the primary components seem to be fenugreek seeds, cayenne pepper and paprika. The ratio of cayenne to paprika control just how hot the berbere becomes.

Also known as the Berbere pepper and the Ethiopian Berbere, Ethiopian Brown chile peppers have a moderate to hot level of spice, ranging 30,000 to 50,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.

The essential ingredients in berbere include dried red chili peppers, fenugreek, paprika, coriander, cumin, cardamom, and ginger. The mixing process involves measuring out the spices, toasting and grinding the whole spices, and incorporating them with pre-ground spices.

ber·​be·​re ˌber-bə-ˈrā ˈbər-bə-rē : a blend of powdered spices including red chili pepper that is used in Ethiopian cooking.

The three spices that not only changed the world economy but the culinary world as well were the black pepper, cinnamon, cumin. It was once so valuable that it was used as currency in some parts of the world. It was traded along the Silk Road and helped to establish trade routes between Asia, Europe, and Africa.

What spice do Africans use? ›

Cumin, garlic, ginger, peppercorns, cinnamon, paprika and chiles are all common African spices.

Surprisingly, cumin is the most often used spice worldwide, and coriander (also known as cilantro) is the most widely used herb, according to the infographic above.

Berbere is the flavor backbone of Ethiopian cooking, a cuisine built around heavily seasoned meats and stews served with a spongy flatbread called injera. Berbere ties all of that together, doing duty as a dry rub for meats, a seasoning for stews, lentils and grains — even as a tableside condiment.

To complete the health section, Ethiopian cuisine often errs on the generous side in the use of herbs and spices. Turmeric, garlic, ginger, basil – all these commonly used ingredients possess their own health benefits that range from anti-inflammatory properties to promoting digestion.

Teff Injera, which is predominantly used in Ethiopia, had a low glycemic index and load. Therefore, Teff Injera is a safe food for diabetic patients, and it can be grown in many drier areas of the world (e.g., Northern United States, Poland, and Western Russia).

Dulet. For the uninitiated, this dish of mixed meats might be more enjoyable if not translated and explained. It's made with minced tripe (an animal's stomach lining), along with liver and lean beef fried in butter, onions, chile, cardamom and pepper.

Mitmita (Amharic: ሚጥሚጣ, IPA: [mitʼmitʼa]) is a powdered seasoning mix used in Ethiopia. It is orange-red in color and contains ground African bird's eye chili peppers, Ethiopian cardamom (korerima), cloves, and salt. It occasionally has other spices including cinnamon, cumin, and ginger.

A substitute for besobela is Indian holy basil (Tulsi). When using berbere in recipes, the amount used is entirely dependent on taste.

Ird. This powerful deep yellow spice – turmeric to us – gives flavor to an alicha, the milder Ethiopian stew.