Eritrean Zigni: Slow-Cooked Beef Stew with Berbere

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Eritrean beef zigni, a slow-cooked stew with berbere spices, tomatoes and onions.

I should probably begin this post by telling you about my long search for berbere. Nowadays, all sorts of spices that would once have been almost impossible to find are available everywhere, but in my part of the world this particular spice blend was proving quite elusive.

I tried small shops and large supermarkets, and eventually, tired of searching, I turned to the internet.

Berbere itself isn't an expensive spice blend. Unfortunately, the shipping costs I came across were sometimes three times the price of the product!

After quite a bit of searching, I finally settled on a German online shop. The delivery was quick and reasonably priced, but I had to buy 100 g of berbere.

So, if anyone has any other recipes using this spice blend, I'm all ears. I have a feeling it will take me quite a while to get through the whole packet! 😀

Zigni is a traditional Eritrean stew that can be made with lamb, beef or chicken. It is usually served with injera, a spongy, slightly thicker and softer-than-a-crêpe flatbread. Since we were following a low-carb approach at the time, I decided to skip it on this occasion.

The meat in the photographs is beef.

Eritrean Zigni (Beef Stew with Berbere)

Yield: 4 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes (estimate)
Resting time: None
Cooking time: About 2 hours and 30 minutes
Total time: About 2 hours and 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 800 g beef, cut into chunks

  • 400 g peeled tomatoes

  • 2 large yellow onions

  • 2 tablespoons berbere spice blend

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 garlic clove

  • Salt, to taste

Method

  1. Thinly slice the onions and cook them gently in the olive oil with the garlic clove.

  2. Let the onions soften slowly. Add a little water if necessary to prevent them from drying out.

  3. Meanwhile, cut the beef into approximately 3 cm cubes and brown it in a separate pan with a little olive oil.

  4. Add the berbere to the softened onions and stir well. Add the browned beef, followed by the peeled tomatoes.

  5. Cover and simmer over a low heat for about 2½ hours.

  6. If the sauce becomes too thick or starts to dry out, add a little water at a time.

  7. Adjust the salt towards the end of cooking and serve hot.

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