Doro Wot (Chicken Stew)
Doro wot literally means chicken stew. It is a way of making one whole chicken in one pot. Even though the cooking style may vary depending on who cooks it and everyone who cooks it may think their way is the right way, we might all agree on one thing; Doro Wot takes time, commitment, and dedication. Every step matters; you cannot rush Doro Wot, otherwise it will NOT taste good. Oh and how can I forget, you need to wash the crap out of the chicken.
Ingredients
Ginger garlic paste
- 10 cloves of garlic
- Ginger root (about 5 inches long)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbs olive oil
For cleaning chicken legs
- 3 lemons
- 3 limes
- 2 tbs salt
Doro Wot
- 5 jumbo yellow onions or about 5lbs of onions
- 1 3/4 cup of olive oil
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/2 cup berbere (cayenne and chili pepper mixture; can be found at most Ethiopian grocery stores)
- 8 chicken legs
- 1/2 tbs garlic/ginger paste (recipe below)
- 1/2 tbs grounded cardamom
- 1 tbs salt
- 7 cups of hot water
- 2 tbs kibe/clarified butter (optional)
- 8 hard boiled eggs
- 1 package of injera (spongy, flimsy, sour dough “pancake”)
Instructions
Ginger Garlic paste
- peal and rinse garlic cloves
- peal and rinse ginger root
- toss both in a food processor or a mortar
- add salt and olive oil
- blend until it becomes a paste
Cleaning the chicken
- place chicken in a large bowl
- rinse with cold water
- remove skin (optional)
- rinse and fill bowl with cold water
- add salt
- squeeze lemon and lime juice in and let soak for an hour or longer
- dump water, and rinse until water runs clear. Chicken should smell citrusy.
- squeeze excess water from chicken and set aside
Doro Wot
- Peel and chop onions (I used food processor to save time)
- Place onions in an 8 qt pot and turn heat to med-high for about 30 min, stirring occasionally
- Add olive oil when the onions turn light brown
- Stir occasionally and allow onions to caramelize.
- Add tomato paste when onion is caramelized. Mix in well and stir for about 3-5min
- Add berbere, garlic ginger paste, and grounded cardamom. Stir frequently for 20min
- Add chicken legs (make 3 small slits around chicken legs, to allow chicken to absorb more flavor)
- Add salt and stir frequently for about 20min or until the water/juice from chicken evaporates
- Add 7 cups of hot water, mix well, place lid, turn heat to low, and cook for a minimum of 1hr or until chicken becomes tender
- Add salt (to taste) and clarified butter (optional) stir for a couple of mins.
- Add hard boiled eggs by making 3 small slits around the eggs, similar to the chicken leg shown above. This will allow the eggs to absorb flavor from the sauce.ย
- Turn heat off, let it cool and enjoy!
Notes
For this recipe I am using chicken legs instead of a whole chicken to save time. If you don’t want to spend 4hours prepping and cooking, prepping ahead of time is also recommended. You can peel and chop the onions in advance, make the garlic ginger paste a day before, and start cleaning the chicken a couple of hours in advance.
You can store doro wot in a fridge and enjoy it for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze it for about a month and deep freeze for up to 3 months.
You can find ingredients at most Ethiopian grocery stores.
Find it online: https://ethiomomma.com/recipes/doro-wot-chicken-stew/