Zigni
Beef stewed long with a mound of onions, berbere and spiced butter, often with tomato — red, thick and hot.
What makes it zigni
- Beef in small pieces.
- Onions cooked down first, then a lot of berbere and niter kibbeh.
- Simmered long, until the sauce is thick and red.
Where it comes from
Zigni is the Tigrinya name, and the one Eritreans use; across Ethiopia the same red beef stew is key wat, or sega wat, key meaning red. Like doro wat it starts with onions cooked down slowly before the berbere and the meat go in.
Eritrean cooks often add tomato, and it's the stew of Sunday lunches and celebrations, eaten with injera and, in Eritrea, sometimes with bread.
How it varies
- Key wat
- The Ethiopian name, usually without tomato.
- Zigni with lamb
- Lamb in place of beef.
Be the first here
Start your own zigniNo one here has made zigni yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
Near it
EthiopianDoro watChicken stewed slowly in onions, berbere and niter kibbeh until dark and thick, with whole hard-boiled eggs.No one here has made it yetEthiopianTihloBalls of dough made from roasted barley flour, dipped one at a time into a hot, spiced stew or berbere sauce.No one here has made it yetEthiopianInjeraA thin, sour, spongy flatbread of fermented teff, cooked on one side only — plate, spoon and bread at once.No one here has made it yet