Misir Wot, Ethiopian spicy lentil stew, is a healthy, protein packed dish made with few basic ingredients and a flavorful berbere spice mix!
I enjoy Ethiopian cuisine and couldn’t wait to try my hand on some of the recipes. So I decided to make the Ethiopian Berbere Spice blend that I can use to season lentils, chicken and fish. I used Cayenne pepper, paprika, fenugreek seeds, dried ginger, coriander, cloves and few other spices that I had in my pantry. Here is a more detailed recipe for homemade Berbere Spice Blend.
If you like to make your own spice blends here are some of my other spice mixes you might enjoy – garam masala, chana masala and bisi bele bath powder.
Berbere spice blend is also available at whole foods and online spice stores likes Penzy’s.
Here is my 11-year old helping me cook, as I worked on the video. We added only 1 tablespoon of the berbere spice blend, but you can add more for an authentic, spicy Misir Wot:
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- 1 cup split red lentils
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 tablespoon berbere spice blend
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 cups water divided
- 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped (optional)
- 1/2 lime
- Turn Instant Pot to Saute mode. After the 'hot' sign displays, add oil and onions. Mix well. Cook covered with a glass lid for 2 minutes.
- Add ginger and garlic. Mix well and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add red lentils, berbere spice blend and salt. Add 2 cups of water and mix everything together.
- Close Instant Pot lid with pressure valve to sealing. Cook on Manual(Hi) for 15 mins followed by natural pressure release.
- Open Instant Pot, Stir everything. Add more water to bring the stew to desired consistency. Mix well.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and squeeze fresh lime juice on top before serving with steamed rice or bread.
Recipe Video
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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
Looks delicious ?
Thank you Lathi! For such less efforts, it sure is a super flavorful dish.
Yes Please 🙂
? Wow! It looks so beautiful! That spice blend sounds really divine.
Thank you! It is a delicious spice blend. It goes well on Ethiopian dishes as well as dips, tacos, burgers, etc.
Just saw the video… such a simple and nourishing recipe!
Thank you Annika! Berbere does the magic in this recipe. So flavorful and yummy.
Beautiful flavour filled recipe!
Thank you Sumith!
This I really want to try ! Without a pressure cooker, I know it will increase cook time but that’s ok.. The dish has great nutrition. My tastebuds are anticipating a flavorful experience ?
Thank you Pan! You may want to look into Instant Pot. It is a good gadget for people on the road. I know many friends who have dietary restrictions and they even carry it with them when they travel to make their own food in hotels, RV’s etc. For me, It has replaced a lot of my cooking utensils and the clean up is very easy too. Either way, Instant Pot or not this lentils stew is amazing and split red lentils do cook fast on stovetop. Let me know how you like them?
This was wonderful and gave me the opportunity to use some of the Berebere I’d purchased at Oaktown Spice in the SF Bay Area. I used the full two TBS of spice and loved the flavor. Served the stew over baked Japanese sweet potatoes. This goes into regular rotation. Thanks!
Thank you for your feedback! SO glad you made it and loved the flavors! And serving over sweet potatoes sounds delish!!
Oh my God…I just made this and it is so good!!! I am so glad I found you because your recipes are excellent and they’re for the Instant Pot. Brilliant!
Thank you so much!!
Hi Roberta! So glad you enjoyed this flavor packed lentil stew recipe. Its a favorite for us too. Thank you for the feedback.
Nice recipe. Tho i’m not a fan of mushed up lentils. I like them when they keep their form. Because of that i wouldn’t use the pressure cooker. Also in true ethio recipe you wouldnt add cilantro and lemon juice. There is ethiopian coriander (korerima) that you can sprinkle at the end.
Hi Mah, Thanks for your feedback. I will def look out for ethiopian coriander in international groceries and try this recipe!
Try adding just the berebere in after the onions are done and roast the spices a bit to bring out more flavor. Then add water and red lentils.
If you do that, you might have to keep the lid off the onions so they don’t get so moist so the spice can toast right.
Also, try grinding up a black cardamom (w/o husk) and add that at the end. Yum!
Thank you!! Thank you for all these tips. I can’t wait to try the lentil stew again with your suggestions. I can already smell the roasted spices!!! Mmmmmm and the black cardamom in the end sounds great!! Thanks again!!
Hi, I want to make a similar recipe but with chicken (see following: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250402/ethiopian-spiced-chicken-stew/) in Instant Pot. How can I apply this recipe with chicken to Instant Pot and how long would I cook it in there for? Thanks for your feedback! Love your recipes!!
Hi Anchal, So you are looking to make “Doro Wot” its is delicious, so you can follow the recipe you have, oil , saute onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and berbere spice. Then add chicken drumsticks, 1/4 cup of water, salt. Cook on Manual(Hi) for 8 minute followed by 5 minutes NPR. IT comes out amazing. Try to make berbere spice blend at home using my recipe.
Archana, I don’t have split red lentils just regular red lentils. Will that alter the cooking time?
Hi Urvish, Same time will work for regular red lentils too. Let me know how you like it.
Hi Archana, really appreciate your recipes. I have followed a lot of them, esp your “mom’s chickdc curry”. Your videos are very well explained as well. Thank you!
I’m quite keen on making the Ethiopian stew. Please let me know the details of where you got the berber spice from, and what brand it is.
Thank you,
Monika
Hi Monika, Thank you for your lovely message. I have the link to the recipe of the spice blend in this post – http://ministryofcurry.com/berbere-spice-blend/ It is very easy to make and better than the store bought ones. Let me know how you like it!
I LOVE, LOVE this dish!!! We had the leftovers as a dip this afternoon. Better and more flavorful than hummus.
Hi Rosemary! What a great idea!! I couldn’t resist trying this as a dip and like you said it is DELCIOUS!! Better than hummus for sure
I made it tonight and as I looked at a couple of other recipes, decided to reduce manual time to 9 minutes–and it was great! Some recipes call for 5 min on high pressure so I thought 15 min might be a little long. Very yummy! I had some with rice and some later with chips as a dip–I forgot to thin it with water at the end so it was a very good consistency as a dip especially.
I agree that 8-10 mins is a good time for cooking the lentils for this dish. And I love your idea of eating it as a dip