Take a culinary journey to the Horn of Africa with this delicious recipe for Misir Wot. An Ethiopian dish made with simple ingredients – lentils, spices, and a few other pantry staples – that is sure to become a family favorite. It’s naturally vegetarian and packed with protein, fiber, and most importantly flavor. This hearty lentil stew is great all by itself but perfect when served with injera or your favorite flatbread. So experience the taste of Ethiopia today with Misir Wot!
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Type of lentil to use: Traditionally misir wot is made with red lentils a.k.a. Masoor dal. And that’s what I recommend you use because they tend to cook quickly and become nice and soft. That being said you can still make this lovely dish with just about any type of lentil that you have on hand. Just keep in mind if you are using green or brown lentils that you most likely will need to double the amount of cooking time.
- Always inspect your lentils: For as long as I can remember I’ve been told to inspect dried legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils) for any debris or stones. But personally, I always found that advice to be a little overcautious. Like, come on, STONES in the beans or lentils! That was until a couple of years ago when I found a nice-sized pebble intermixed with some dried black beans. And I can tell you that whoever would have eaten that would have broken a tooth. So please I know it is a boring job, but save yourself a trip to the dentist and inspect your lentils before cooking with them.
- Cooking lentils to preference: It should be mentioned that the cooking time for the lentils can be adjusted to your personal preference. The amount I’ve listed in the recipe should result in a tender, but not mushy lentil. However, If you prefer chewier lentils then subtract 5 minutes of cooking time. And if you like them more soft and mushy then add 5 to 10 minutes of cooking time.
- Make it vegetarian/vegan: If you’d like to make today’s recipe vegan-friendly then swap out the chicken stock with equal amounts of either vegetable broth or water.
- Freeze any extra: This is a great recipe to freeze if you make a large batch. You can either place it in little plastic bags, or better yet silicon soup molds. And it should last in your freezer almost indefinitely, but will be best within 3 months.
- Serving suggestions: Misir wot is traditionally served over injera bread. Which is then ripped and used to scoop up the lentils. However, if you don’t have access to injera bread I find that plain old naan bread works great. Or really just any form of bread that you can dip into the lentils!
Traditional Ingredients & Methods
- Berbere spice: Most of the flavor for today’s dish will come from a unique Ethiopian spice mix called berbere. It includes things like allspice, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, fenugreek, and nutmeg. But is mostly composed of hot ground peppers, like cayenne, which gives it a nice kick. And while you can this mix premade in some grocery stores, I highly recommend you make some of it yourself. It’s really easy and you can check out how to do it by visiting our recipe for Berbere.
- Niter kibbeh: Another unique ingredient that is sometimes used in misir wot is niter kibbeh. A clarified butter, similar to ghee, that is infused with a blend of spices to give it an amazing flavor. However, it does use pretty much the same spices found in our berbere. So I don’t find that it’s necessary. But if you would like to add some to this recipe in place of the oil, you can make some yourself by checking out this recipe from Lins Food.
- Sauteing onions without oil (Traditional method): I also want to mention a traditional cooking method that might interest you. And that’s dry cooking the onions without oil/niter kibbeh. Then after the onions are browned the oil/niter kibbeh is added. Apparently, that is how misir wot is commonly prepared in Ethiopia. And to be honest, I’m not really sure how dry cooking the onions would change the dish. But who knows maybe it does? So feel free to give this method a go if you want. And if you do I’d love for you to comment down below on how it turned out.
Other Lentil Dishes You Might Enjoy
Misir Wot (Ethiopian Lentils) Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 40 miniutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
¼ Cup of neutral flavored oil, or niter kibbeh
1 Medium red onion, finely diced
3 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-inch piece of ginger, minced
1 Medium tomato, diced
2 to 4 Tablespoons of Berbere spice mix, depending on how spicy you like it
1 Cup of red lentils, washed
2 to 3 Cups of chicken broth, You can also use vegetable broth or water to make it vegan
Pinch of salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Saute the onion: Pour the oil, or niter kibbeh into a medium sized pot. Place this over medium heat, and once hot toss in the diced onion. Saute the onion for roughly 10 minutes or until the onions are softened and become slightly golden brown in color.
- Add aromatics: Add the garlic and ginger to the pot and saute them with the onion for 3 minutes. Then add in the diced tomato and berbere spice mix. Continue to cook everything for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to break down.
- Add lentils & broth: Add the lentils to the pot and stir them with everything for a minute or two. Then add 2 cups of broth/water along with a pinch of salt and stir everything together.
- Cook the lentils: Let the liquid in the pot come to a boil, Then cover the pot with a lid and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the lentils cook for 20 to 30 minutes, making sure to occasionally stir the stew. If at any point during the cooking process, the lentils become too thick you can always add another ½ to 1 cup of broth/water to thin it out. You will know that the dish is done when the lentils are nice and tender.
- Adjust: Once the lentils are soft taste them and add additional salt if needed. You can also adjust the thickness of the stew at this point. So if you want it thinner just add a splash more liquid. Or if you prefer it thicker then let it simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 more minutes.
- Serve the misir wot and enjoy!
Misir Wot (Ethiopian Lentils) Recipe
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- ¼ Cup of neutral flavored oil or niter kibbeh
- 1 Medium red onion finely diced
- 3 to 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1- inch piece of ginger minced
- 1 Medium tomato diced
- 2 to 4 Tablespoons of Berbere spice mix depending on how spicy you like it
- 1 Cup of red lentils washed
- 2 to 3 Cups of chicken broth You can also use vegetable broth or water to make it vegan
- Pinch of salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- Saute the onion: Pour the oil, or niter kibbeh into a medium sized pot. Place this over medium heat, and once hot toss in the diced onion. Saute the onion for roughly 10 minutes or until the onions are softened and become slightly golden brown in color.
- Add aromatics: Add the garlic and ginger to the pot and saute them with the onion for 3 minutes. Then add in the diced tomato and berbere spice mix. Continue to cook everything for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to break down.
- Add lentils & broth: Add the lentils to the pot and stir them with everything for a minute or two. Then add 2 cups of broth/water along with a pinch of salt and stir everything together.
- Cook the lentils: Let the liquid in the pot come to a boil, Then cover the pot with a lid and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the lentils cook for 20 to 30 minutes, making sure to occasionally stir the stew. If at any point during the cooking process, the lentils become too thick you can always add another ½ to 1 cup of broth/water to thin it out. You will know that the dish is done when the lentils are nice and tender.
- Adjust: Once the lentils are soft taste them and add additional salt if needed. You can also adjust the thickness of the stew at this point. So if you want it thinner just add a splash more liquid. Or if you prefer it thicker then let it simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 more minutes.
- Serve the misir wot and enjoy!
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