Doro Wat (spicy Ethiopian chicken stew)

 Doro Wat is a traditional and delicious Ethiopian dish with chicken and, typically, hard-boiled eggs served over injera, spongy Ethiopian crepe-like bread that you can use to eat the stew with your hands.

As long as you have the proper ingredients and patience, it is not a difficult dish to make. Nitir kibe is a uniquely-Ethiopian spiced butter and can be found in Ethiopian markets if you have access to one; the same goes for berbere, a classic Ethipian spicy made of dried chilies. If there are no Ethipian markets within reach, you can make both of these ingredients yourselves (simply look online for a recipe), although it's much easier to just purchase online. I am not a big fan of eggs prepared that way, so I discarded them for this recipe.
 
Interestingly, I found this recipe in the Washington Post (which actually is not too surprisingly given the large Ethiopian community who lives there.)

Ingredients

• 8 cups chopped onion
• 6 1/2 cups water
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 2 cups spiced butter
• 1 1/2 cups berbere
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 6 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
• 6 bone-in, skinless chicken legs
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup sweet white wine
• 12 hard-cooked eggs, peeled

Instructions

1. In a large pot, on medium-low heat, heat the onions and 1/2 cup of the water, stirring occasionally, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the onions have turned golden brown.
2. Add the tomato paste to the pot and cook for 5 minutes while stirring. Add the spiced butter, berbere, garlic and ginger. When the butter has melted, adjust the heat to low and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. 
3. When the mixture has cooked for 30 minutes, prepare the chicken. In a medium pot on high heat, add the chicken with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat slightly to poach the chicken, about 15 minutes. Drain the chicken and discard the cooking liquid. 
4. When the onion mixture has cooked for a total of 1 hour, add the chicken to it and let cook for an additional hour over low heat. 
5. Add the 6 cups of water and stir everything togehter. Bring to a simmer until the sauce thickens and heats through, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cardamom, black pepper and wine. Mix in the hard-cooked eggs and cook for 15 minutes. 

Serves 4-6.