This silky vegan Ethiopian Shiro Wot is so simple to make. It's also intensely aromatic and one of the most delicious chickpea stews ever! A homemade berbere spice blend and vegan niter kibbeh add amazing flavor.
My favorite restaurant, which serves Ethiopian and Eritrean food, has some amazing vegetarian and vegan dishes on the menu. My favorite among these is shiro wot (or shiro wat), a silky ground-chickpea stew that's spicy, aromatic and beyond delicious.
Over my last two posts I shared with you recipes for berbere and vegan niter kibbeh (spiced olive oil). The goal was to get you started on making this shiro wot, a staple vegetarian dish in Ethiopia, and other Ethiopian dishes like misir wot, vegan doro wot, tikil gomen and this Ethiopian lentil stew. Once you begin, you will be hooked.
Some Ethiopian dishes can be a labor of love to cook, because it takes time to develop all those incredible flavors. Not so with shiro, because most of that work was already done when you made the berbere and niter kibbeh. Now, you get to sit back (mostly) and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe
- Beyond delicious. I know I say that about a lot of recipes, but there simply is no other way to describe this shiro wot. It is so, so tasty, and I guarantee it will become one of your favorite Ethiopian meals. I usually can't wait for dinner and find myself eating it out of the pot.
- Simple. There really isn't much difficulty involved in making this shiro. You can do it even if you're not very used to cooking Ethiopian or any food, but do follow instructions closely. This is also a one-pot recipe.
- Affordable. Most vegetarian Ethiopian foods are economical, but none more so than shiro. You do need to make an initial investment in the spices, but buy those in Indian or Ethiopian grocery stores where they are sold at much better prices than you'd get in health food stores or online.
- Suited to all diets. This Ethiopian chickpea stew is gluten-free, nut-free and soy-free.
Ingredients
- Onions. Use red onions preferably.
- Garlic
- Vegan niter kibbeh. If you are vegan you will have to make you own because store bought versions are usually made with butter.
- Tomatoes
- Berbere. A blend of warm spices, including coriander, cardamom and red chili peppers.
- Paprika (optional). I add it mainly for the color.
- Chickpea flour
- Jalapeno or other green chili pepper (optional). For garnish. This will add more heat to the stew so don't use it if sensitive to heat because the berbere is also spicy.
How to make shiro wot
1. Place the onions in a dry saucepan or Dutch oven (no oil). Add a generous pinch of salt and saute over medium heat until they start to brown. Add water, a tablespoon at a time, if needed to keep them from sticking to the pan.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of niter kibbeh and continue cooking the onions until they are very soft and brown. Stir frequently.
3. Add garlic and mix it in. Saute a couple of minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes and mix.
5. Let the tomatoes cook, stirring frequently, until they are very soft and pulpy.
6. Stir in the chickpea powder and mix well until no dry flour remains in the pan.
7. Add the berbere and paprika. Mix well and then slowly trickle in 2 cups hot water into the chickpea mixture, whisking as you go. You can add a couple more tablespoons of niter kibbeh at this point for even better flavor.
8. Bring the shiro to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let it cook 10-15 minutes until the chickpea flour has lost its raw flavor, the shiro has thickened, and little droplets of oil can be seen on top. Shiro should be thick, but if it is too thick for your liking, you can whisk in up to ½ cup more of hot water. Garnish, if you like, with sliced, fresh, green chili peppers.
Helpful hints
- Caramelizing the onions until they are brown and very soft will ensure they simply melt into the shiro, which is what you want for the perfect texture.
- Add more berbere and niter kibbeh, if you want, to adjust the flavor to your liking.
- Sift the chickpea flour into the saucepan to make sure there are no lumps.
- Make sure the water you add to the chickpea paste is very hot, to ensure the cooking process doesn't stop, which it will if you add cold water that has to heat back up.
- Use a whisk to mix in the water with the chickpea flour so there are no lumps.
- If you have access to an Ethiopian store, you can buy premixed shiro powder or shiro flour. It is a mix of chickpea flour and berbere so if use store bought shiro, you can skip mixing in the berbere but follow the rest of the instructions in this recipe to make shiro wot.
Serving suggestions
- Shiro wot is wonderful served over injera, the popular Ethiopian flatbread.
- Serve shiro with most flatbreads, including roti, vegan naan, pita or tortilla.
- Smear it on a piece of crusty toast and top with avocado for an amazing breakfast.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store shiro in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days.
- Freeze: Freeze leftovers for up to four months.
- Reheat: Thaw and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until warmed through. If needed add a bit of water.
More delicious chickpea flour recipes
If you loved this recipe, be sure to check out more vegan gluten-free recipes on Holy Cow Vegan!
Ethiopian Shiro Wot
Equipment
- 1 Saute pan or saucepan or skillet or Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion (finely diced)
- 4 tablespoons niter kibbeh (divided)
- 6 cloves garlic (crushed into a paste or minced. If you don't like garlic you can use less.)
- 2 medium tomatoes (finely diced)
- ½ cup chickpea flour
- 2 tablespoons berbere
- 1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
- 2 cups water (very hot)
- Salt to taste
- 2 green chili peppers (sliced, optional. Skip if you are sensitive to heat).
Instructions
- Place the onions in a dry saucepan (no oil). Add a generous pinch of salt and saute over medium heat until they start to brown. Add water, a tablespoon at a time, if needed to keep them from sticking to the pan.
- Add 2 tablespoons of niter kibbeh and continue cooking the onions until they are very soft and brown. Stir frequently.
- Add garlic and mix it in. Saute a couple of minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes and mix. Let the tomatoes cook, stirring frequently, until they are very soft and pulpy.
- Stir in the chickpea flour and mix well until no dry flour remains in the pan.
- Add the berbere and paprika. Mix well and then slowly trickle in 2 cups hot water, whisking as you go. You can add a couple more tablespoons of niter kibbeh at this point for even better flavor.
- Bring the shiro to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let it cook 10-15 minutes until the chickpea flour has lost its raw flavor, the shiro has thickened, and little droplets of oil can be seen on top. Shiro should be thick, but if it is too thick for your liking, you can whisk in up to ½ cup more of hot water. Garnish, if you like, with sliced, fresh, green chili peppers.
Recipe notes
- Caramelizing the onions until they are brown and very soft will ensure they simply melt into the shiro, which is what you want for the perfect texture.
- Add more berbere and niter kibbeh, if you want, to adjust the flavor to your liking.
- Sift the chickpea flour into the saucepan to make sure there are no lumps.
- Make sure the water you add to the chickpea paste is very hot, to ensure the cooking process doesn't stop, which it will if you add cold water that has to heat back up.
- Use a whisk to mix in the water with the chickpea flour so there are no lumps.
- Shiro is sold in Ethiopian stores as a premade mix of chickpea flour and berbere. If you use store bought shiro, you can skip mixing in the berbere but follow the rest of the instructions.
- Refrigerate: Store shiro in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days.
- Freeze: Freeze leftovers for up to four months.
- Reheat: Thaw and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until warmed through. If needed add a bit of water.
Sienna
Hi Vaishali, made it, and it was delicious! So yummy, the family including my three kids loved it too. I'm going to make this often. We ate it with tortillas.
ZenSeeker
Hi. I am not cooking with oil. Any way to make this without niter kibbeh? Probably not. Thanks, I love your recipes!
Vaishali
Hi, the flavor won’t be exactly the same but you can make a pretty decent stew without the oil. Just make sure you cook the chickpea flour long enough to lose the raw flavor!
Yoav M.
Hi Vaishali,
I'm a huge fan of shiro wot and was excited to make this. Made it last night and it turned out WAY too spicy for me. Wanted to ask a couple of questions... 1) I made it with Penzey's berbere. Would you think this would be a lot spicier than your recipe for barbere? 2) Is there anything you would recommend I could to do to save this batch? I can tell the flavor I want is under all that heat but it's so spicy I feel like I can barely taste the flavor. I'm definitely a lightweight on spicy when it comes to Indian and Ethiopian food. I like some but the level which truly authentic recipes usually have is too much for me. (I was so excited to make this I forgot I should probably use less berbere). I plan to make this again with a lot less berbere but am wondering if the berbere I used was just too spicy and if there is anything I can do to make this batch a bit milder so I can actually enjoy it.
Thanks!
Vaishali
Hi Yoav, I haven't used Penzey's berbere but it is likely they use far more chili pepper than I do in their recipe. As for reducing the spiciness, you can try stirring in something acidic like lemon juice or some yogurt, but that would only reduce the spiciness to some extent and it sounds like your shiro is too spicy for your tastebuds. You could also just try cooking another batch of the shiro, this time without berbere, and mixing it with the old, spicy batch before taking it off the stove.
Yoav M.
Thanks Vaishali!
I will give it another shot. Will try making your berbere instead - I made the niter kibbeh and I make my own garam masala but I got lazy since I had berbere. It's probably gonna taste better if I take the time to do that anyway... I've learned what a difference using authentic spices can make. Will let you know how it goes.
Vaishali
Awesome! If you are sensitive to heat I'd advise starting off with a smaller quantity of berbere and then adding more after tasting.
Peter
I think that the usual method is to dry roast the chickpea (gram or besan) flour first, take it out of the pan then add it when you say. Makes it nuttier.
Vaishali
Actually you don't need to toast the chickpea flour for this recipe, which would just add an unnecessary step. Simmering the chickpea flour in hot water cooks it nicely and gives it the perfect nutty flavor.
Ellen Sheehan
I could not find the tomatoes in the recipe. This looks wonderful and I look forward to trying it.
Vaishali
Just added it! Two tomatoes.
Anonymous
No tomatoes listed in ingredients, but added in instructions…. Quantity??
Vaishali
Two tomatoes, added! Thanks for catching.