Doro Wat

★★★★4.9· 543 ratings

·Serves 4

About this Dish

Ethiopia's most celebrated dish — chicken slow-cooked in a rich, deeply spiced stew of berbere, onions, garlic, ginger and niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter). The hard-boiled eggs added at the end absorb the sauce and become essential to the dish. Served on injera at every celebration.

IngredientsServes 4

🍗Chicken thighs and drumsticks, 1.5kg, skin removed

🧅Red onions, 4 large, very finely chopped

🧄Garlic cloves, 6, minced

🫚Niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter), 4 tablespoons — or use regular butter

🌶️Berbere spice blend, 4–5 tablespoons

🫚Fresh ginger, 2 tablespoons grated

🍷Dry red wine or tej (Ethiopian honey wine), 125ml

🥚Hard-boiled eggs, 6, peeled and pierced all over with a fork

🧂Salt, to taste

🫓Injera, to serve

Method

Score the raw chicken pieces a few times with a knife so the sauce can penetrate deeply, then rub lightly with salt and set aside while you prepare everything else.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, dry-cook the finely chopped onions with no oil for about 15–20 minutes, stirring often, until they are very soft and beginning to caramelise — this is the essential base and cannot be rushed.

Add the niter kibbeh to the onions and stir in the berbere spice, garlic, and ginger. Cook this paste over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until it deepens in colour and smells incredibly fragrant.

Pour in the red wine and stir well, then nestle the chicken pieces into the sauce, turning to coat. Add a splash of water if needed so the chicken is mostly submerged.

Cover and simmer on low heat for 45 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally, until it is completely tender and the sauce has thickened into a dark, glossy stew. Taste and adjust salt.

Add the peeled, pierced hard-boiled eggs to the pot, gently pushing them into the sauce. Simmer uncovered for a further 10–15 minutes so the eggs soak up the colour and flavour of the wat.

Serve the doro wat on a large piece of injera, ladling sauce generously over everything. Traditionally, each person gets at least one egg — it is considered a mark of celebration and care.

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