Doro Wat - Ethiopian Chicken & Egg Stew

Doro wat or doro wot is a richly spiced, bold, and delicious chicken-and-egg stew from Ethiopia and Eritrea. It literally means “chicken stew.” The word doro stands for chicken, and wot means stew.
Traditionally, when making Doro wat, a whole chicken is used. I used 6 boneless chicken quarters with skin on. However, you can use chicken drumsticks or thighs for the recipe. Niter kibbeh is a spiced, clarified butter used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. The best substitute is ghee. However, if you decide to use ghee, then add a pinch of each cardamom, fenugreek, ginger, onion, garlic and turmeric. Berbere spice is a distinctive Ethiopian spice blend made with a base of chilli peppers and fragrant aromatics like cardamom, fenugreek, cumin and clove that's absolutely essential to the Ethiopian cuisine. If you are using a storebought berbere, do get one without salt, because this recipe uses almost half a cup of berbere and you don’t want to over-salt your dish.
This stew is often served with Injera- a popular flatbread in Ethiopia. However, it pairs perfectly well with rice too.

Berbere	Chicken
30-50 g Dried chillies, stems removed (I used a mixture of different kinds of red chillies) 3 tbsp Sweet or hot paprika powder 1 tsp Coriander seeds 1 tsp Cumin seeds 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds 1 tsp Long black pepper or regular black pepper 1 tsp Dried rosemary 1/2 tsp Green cardamom seeds 1/2 tsp Nigella seeds 2-3 Allspice berries 4 Clove buds 1 tsp Ginger powder 1 tsp Garlic powder 1 tsp Onion powder 1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder 1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder	6 Boneless chicken quarters 10 Garlic cloves, minced 50 g Ginger, peeled and grated 2 tbsp Olive oil 500 g Red onions, finely chopped 2 tbsp Tomato paste 6-8 tbsp Berbere 4-5 tbsp Niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced clarified butter) 1/2 tsp Freshly milled black pepper 1 tsp Sea salt or to taste 250 ml Chicken stock 6 Hard-boiled eggs peeled 1 Spring onion, thinly sliced Injera or rice, to serve

Berbere

Chicken

30-50 g Dried chillies, stems removed (I used a mixture of different kinds of red chillies)
3 tbsp Sweet or hot paprika powder
1 tsp Coriander seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Long black pepper or regular black pepper
1 tsp Dried rosemary
1/2 tsp Green cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp Nigella seeds
2-3 Allspice berries
4 Clove buds
1 tsp Ginger powder
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Onion powder
1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder

6 Boneless chicken quarters
10 Garlic cloves, minced
50 g Ginger, peeled and grated
2 tbsp Olive oil
500 g Red onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp Tomato paste
6-8 tbsp Berbere
4-5 tbsp Niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced clarified butter)
1/2 tsp Freshly milled black pepper
1 tsp Sea salt or to taste
250 ml Chicken stock
6 Hard-boiled eggs peeled
1 Spring onion, thinly sliced
Injera or rice, to serve

Make your own berbere. Warm a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the whole chillies and whole spices. Toast, stirring frequently, for a minute until fragrant. Place 1/3 of them in a spice grinder. Process until you have a fine powder. Remove and repeat with remaining portions. Store in an airtight jar for up to 3 months.
Combine ginger, garlic, and olive oil to make paste. Set aside.
Place a large pot over low to medium heat. Add the finely chopped onions to the dry pan and cook slowly, stirring regularly as the liquid releases and allows the onions to simmer and caramelize, about 30 minutes.
Add the ginger & garlic paste and tomato paste to the onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the berbere, niter kibbeh, salt and pepper. Stir well.
Add chicken stock and increase the heat to medium-high and bring it to a low simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add in chicken. Reduce heat to low-medium, cover, and cook until the chicken is tender, 45 minutes. If the sauce has thickened too much, add a little bit of stock.
Add in the hard boiled eggs, and leave to cook for another 10 more minutes. Garnish with sliced spring onions and serve with injera to mop up the sauce.

10 comments:

DEZMOND 5/9/25 13:28: Sounds very weird, must admit. Hope you will have a nice weekend ahead, we are again at 35C, no respite for us.
Tom 5/9/25 13:28: ...Angie, yet another chicken master piece!
Cooking Julia 5/9/25 13:28: I had never heard of this dish, but it seems to be delicious.
Lola Martínez 5/9/25 13:46: Un estofado siempre es un plato muy rico, solo que yo lo prepararía menos espaciado.
Christine 5/9/25 14:01: Interesting and yummy.
eileeninmd 5/9/25 14:32: Looks delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe.
Take care, have a great day and a happy weekend.
My name is Erika. 5/9/25 14:46: I always think of stew as something you eat out of a bowl. I love this way of eating it. I bet it's tasty. Happy weekend Angie.
Anne in the kitchen 5/9/25 16:41: This looks very interesting and something that would taste good when the weather cools a little.
Linda's Relaxing Lair 5/9/25 18:58: Interesting recipe, Angie. It looks very good.
DeniseinVA 5/9/25 19:19: Fascinating to see all these ingredients and it must taste incredible!