“Our Hands”
ETHIOPIAN JEWS—THE BETA ISRAEL—have lived in Ethiopia since antiquity, and Beejhy Barhany grew up surrounded by fruit trees, fields lush with pumpkin, corn, tomatoes and greens. Shabbat among her doting relatives was observed with special foods, prayer, visits and rest in “this idyllic place,” as she calls it. Then, at age four, she and her large extended family fled their village on foot in the middle of the night to leave Ethiopia, travelling only by night to escape detection. They walked to Sudan, believing they
were on route directly to Israel, but instead lived in Sudan for two years, keeping their identity as Jews a secret from their neighbors. Once in Israel, Barhany lived on kibbutz in her teens, served in the Israeli army, and in 1996 traveled to North and South America. She fell in love with New York, with Harlem especially, and returned to open her Tsion Café there. Recipes for her spice blends and long-simmered sauces—the mainstays of Ethiopian dishes—are intertwined with family memories in her debut cookbook, Gursha.
Berbere Spice Blend
This flavorful, aromatic seasoning blend says a lot about the cook who mixes it. I regard this spice mixture less as a formula and more as a way to express myself. I start mine with plenty of dried chili pepper, as is traditional, but then I add a healthy dose of korarima, because I love the nutty, herbal notes it adds. My mother’s berbere was heavy on serrano pepper, basil, and tiny nigella seeds, infusing her cooking with a signature spicy bite. While I welcome the growing number of grocery stores that carry berbere in the spice section, I find that many of them overdo it on the paprika and cumin, giving food a much flatter taste. Feel free to use my recipe as a starting point for yours, adding more of any flavors you want to emphasize, while decreasing or omitting any you may dislike.
MAKES ABOUT 2 1/2 CUPS
1 cup paprika
1/2 cup cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons Ground Roasted Korarima or ground cardamom 2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fine sea salt
11⁄2 teaspoons ground cloves
11⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
11⁄2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
11⁄2 teaspoons ground fenugreek
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together and transfer to an airtight jar. Store at room temperature for up to 6 months.
Kulet/Silsi—Fragrant Ethiopian Stew Base
The foundation of all thick, spicy Ethiopian stews starts with slow-cooking onions, garlic, ginger, and berbere until they melt into one another. Let this crimson-colored base bubble for a few hours, and you can have dinner all week. Use it to make chicken stew, fish stew, red lentil stew, or all of them at once.. 10–12 large yellow onions, peeled and quartered
6 cups vegetable oil, plus more if necessary 2 cups berbere (recipe at left)
4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
3 tablespoons fine sea salt
8 cups hot water
6 ounces tomato paste (or 12 ounces, if you prefer less heat) 1 tablespoon ground roasted korarima or ground cardamom
In a food processor, puree the onions until smooth. Pour onions into a large pot and bring to simmer over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat if the onions begin browning, until most of the water has evaporated, 35 to 40 minutes.
Stir in oil and simmer for about 5 minutes to incorporate. Stir in berbere, garlic, ginger, and salt. The mixture should be moist; if it appears dry, add more hot water, about 1/2 cup at a time. Cover the pot and cook over medium heat until the onions have taken on a red hue, another 10–15 minutes.
Add hot water and tomato paste and stir well. Bring to a sim- mer, then reduce the heat and cook uncovered, stirring occa- sionally, until the flavors blend and the stew base becomes fra- grant, about 1 hour.
Remove from heat and stir in korarima. Let cool. Store in an air- tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipes adapted from Gursha: Timeless Recipes for Modern Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem, and Beyond © 2025 by Tevletz Barhany-John. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
