Doro Wot is Ethiopia’s National Dish, made with caramelized onions for hours, every part of the chicken, and Ethiopia’s signature berbere. It is a layered, spiced dish, and traditionally enjoyed with Injera. This is a dish often made for celebrations and special occasions, so I developed this recipe to be weeknight friendly, and adaptable if you do not have access to injera. It is delicious with mashed potatoes, rice, even on its own with a side salad or roasted veggies. Carmelized onions with makulaya spice blend is the base of the dish, layered with tomato paste for sweetness, white wine, rosemary, and berbere, chicken nestled in, and finished off with kibbeh (Ethiopian clarified butter) and mekelesha.
Ingredients:
- 3lbs Quarter chicken legs or thighs/drumsticks (about 4 chicken legs)
- 4 red onions, finely minced
- 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste, or (5 cloves finely minced garlic and 1⁄4 knob of ginger with
salt to form a paste)
- 1 tbsp Tomato paste
- Sprig of Rosemary
- 1⁄2 cup white wine
- 2 tsp Makulaya
- 1⁄4 cup Berbere
- 1 tsp Mekelesha
- 1 tbsp Kibbeh
- Salt to taste
Steps:
- Start by finely dicing your red onions, set aside. Pat dry your quarter chicken legs, or thighs, and salt both sides. Cut slits around your chicken to allow flavor to penetrate. Sear your chicken in a hot pan until golden brown on both sides (around 5-7 minutes per side). Add in your finely diced red onions and carmelize for one hour, adding in dashes of water to loosen from the pan as needed. Close the lid of your pan to allow the onions to steam and carmelize faster.
- Add in your makulaya and stir. Deglaze with a dash of water and let the makulaya cook off from the onions for another 20-30 minutes, adding in dashes of water and closing the lid to let steam.
- Add in your ginger garlic paste, or finely minced ginger and garlic, and stir. Add in your berbere and let toast. Add in your tomato paste and let toast for 5 minutes. Deglaze with your white wine and let it come to a rapid boil. Nestle in your chicken legs and rosemary and put in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, covered.
