If you're new to making Ethiopian food, you might feel a little intimidated by a recipe like doro wat.  After all, there are new ingredients, some uncommon techniques, and a somewhat long cook time.  But allow me to explain why doro wat is, in fact, one of the best recipes that you can make if you're just starting out.

First of all, doro wat makes excellent use of two Ethiopian culinary staples: berbere, and niter kibbeh.  I have recipes for both of these here on the site, and I do highly recommend trying your hand at making them.  Doing so will allow you to become more familiar with Ethiopian/Eritrean ingredients, and help you turn out some really spectacular dishes.  Of course, not everyone is going to have the time (or interest) to make these ingredients - and that's totally fine.  Good berbere can be found in specialty stores and from online spice retailers, while niter kibbeh can be swapped out for ghee (more on this below).

Secondly, doro wat is actually pretty fool proof.  The dry-cooking onion step seems a bit intimidating at first, but it's actually quite simple (and covered in more detail below).  The rest of the recipe is pretty run-of-the-mill stew-making stuff - perfect for a lazy weekend afternoon.

Finally - doro wat is just... really, really good.  It's a hearty, filling, just spicy enough, and it makes amazing leftovers.  You're gonna love it.

The remainder of the Recipe Notes section goes into the details on a few of these points, but overall, I think you'll find that it's pretty easy to jump in and start cooking.  As always though, if you have any questions or comments, head on down to the comments - I'm always happy to help!

Nobody likes lies about caramelized onions.  You know what I mean - the old "cook onions for 5-10 minutes until caramelized" nonsense.  LIES.

The onions are very, VERY important to doro wat.  They need to be nicely browned in order to make a rich sauce base.  To that end (and I can't stress this enough), do not rush the process.  That being said, they actually cook faster than you might expect, mainly because they're chopped quite finely.  The finer you can mince the onions, the better.

The other important thing to understand is that the onions are cooked in a dry pan, without any oil or water.  Once the onions start to sweat and break down, they'll release liquid into the pan, making them easier to cook - but before this happens, you want to make sure you stir a lot to keep them moving.  Keeping the heat low helps avoid any scorching, but if you're worried that the onions might burn, you can toss in a little bit of oil.

I'll keep this section brief.  For much more information on Ethiopian spices, check out my berbere recipe.  You'll find detailed notes on finding and substituting for various ingredients.

Most of the spices in this recipe are easy to find at any grocery store.  The two important exceptions are berbere (which is covered in the next section), and korarima.  Korarima is not commonly found outside of Ethiopian/Eritrean grocery stores, though you can find it online with relative ease.  Fortunately, green cardamom makes an excellent substitute.

The best berbere is homemade - and you can find my recipe for it here.  I know that many people tend to balk at the idea of making a spice blend just for one recipe, but it's worth noting that you're going to use a LOT of berbere to make doro wat (1/2 cup).

Store-bought berbere is totally fine - with the caveat that some berbere blends are much better than others.  Some are also much more expensive than others.  If you can get to an Ethiopian/Eritrean grocery store, see if they stock a good house-made berbere blend.

If you're using store-bought berbere be sure to check whether or not it has salt added - and if so, how much!  Given that doro wat uses so much berbere, you want to avoid accidentally over-salting the dish.  If your berbere contains salt, you'll want to omit the added teaspoon in my recipe, then adjust to taste.

A note on spiciness - Berbere is meant to be spicy, but not extremely spicy.  This becomes particularly important when you're making doro wat, as you're using a LOT of berbere.  If you are using a store-bought brand, try make sure that you find one that doesn't lean too heavily into the chili-heat. Now, if you do want more heat in your doro wat - that's easy enough to manage.  Simply add a little cayenne pepper (try 1-2 tsp for starters), or some mitmita if you have it.

Niter kibbeh is spiced, clarified butter. It serves as both a flavouring and a cooking medium in doro wat. As with berbere, homemade is the way to go.  Unlike berbere however, there aren't usually store-bought alternatives.  The best substitute is generally ghee - but this will only replace the butter content, and not the spice flavours.

If you're going to swap ghee in for niter kibbeh, I would suggest adding another teaspoon of ginger and garlic, along with a pinch (each) of cumin, fenugreek, dried mint, and korarima (or cardamom).

If you want to go dairy-free, I would highly recommend checking out the end of my niter kibbeh recipe and reading up on how to make yeqimem zeyet (spiced oil).  It can be substituted here 1:1 for niter kibbeh.

The tangy, soft, bubbly flatbread known as injera (እንጀራ in Amharic) or ṭayta (ጣይታ in Tigrinya) is a staple component of any Ethiopian or Eritrean meal.  Made with a grain called teff (Eragrostis teff) it serves as a side dish, serving plate, and utensil all (literally) rolled into one.

If you can't get injera, you can serve your doro wat with a flatbread, crepe, or other starchy side of your choosing - but I do want to add an important caveat about this.  Injera has a distinctive tangy/sour/fermented kick to it that plays really nicely against the inherently earthy and rich flavours of doro wat.  Without injera, I think that doro wat feels like it's missing a bit of that tanginess.  To that end, if you are going to make do without injera, I would suggest adding a few teaspoons of a flavourful-yet-neutral vinegar (e.g. rice vinegar) or lemon juice to the finished stew.  Try adjusting to taste to see what you like, and don't add too much all at once.

I haven't tried my hand at making my own injera, so I can't give any specific recommendations for recipes, but there are plenty of recipes out there to start from.  Instead, I prefer to order a nice big side of injera (and sometimes another dish or two) from one of the awesome Ethiopian restaurants in my city.

A note on gluten - Teff, unlike wheat, does not contain gluten.  As such, injera made with teff alone will be gluten-free.  However, most restaurants use a combination of teff and wheat flour to make injera, meaning that you should generally assume that your takeout injera contains gluten.