Local Dishes

1. እንጀራ

   injera

   Injera (fermented teff flatbread)

   Usage

   A large sour flatbread of fermented teff flour. It doubles as the plate — stews are ladled onto it and you tear off pieces to pick the food up with your right hand

2. ወጥ

   wet

   Wat (stew)

   Usage

   The general word for a stew. Most Ethiopian menus are a list of "X ወጥ", so this one word unlocks the structure. Transliterated wat, wot or wet in English

3. ዶሮ ወጥ

   doro wet

   Doro wat (chicken stew)

   Usage

   Chicken simmered at length in berbere. It contains meat, so it is not a fasting-day dish. The classic celebration food

4. ሽሮ ወጥ

   shiro wet

   Shiro wat (ground pulse stew)

   Usage

   A smooth stew of ground peas or broad beans — the cheapest, most universally available dish in the country. No meat, but outside fasting days it is often made with butter, so ask if you need it fully plant-based

5. ምስር ወጥ

   misir wet

   Misir wat (lentil stew)

   Usage

   Red lentils stewed with berbere. Contains no animal products, so it anchors the fasting-day platter

6. ክክ ወጥ

   kik wet

   Kik wat (split pea stew)

   Usage

   ክክ means "split". A yellow stew of split peas or broad beans, usually mild rather than hot. Contains no animal products

7. አልጫ ወጥ

   alicha wet

   Alicha wat (mild stew)

   Usage

   The blanket term for a stew made without berbere, i.e. not hot. Look for this word if you cannot take chilli. ⚠ It comes in both vegetable and meat versions, so ask separately if you are avoiding meat

8. ቀይ ወጥ

   qey wet

   Key wat (red berbere stew)

   Usage

   ቀይ means "red". The berbere-heavy, hot counterpart of alicha wat, most often made with beef

9. ጥብስ

   tibs

   Tibs (sautéed meat)

   Usage

   Cubed beef, lamb or goat seared hard with onion and chilli, often brought to the table still sizzling in its dish. A meat dish — not fasting-day food

10. ክትፎ

    kitfo

    Kitfo (minced raw beef)

    Usage

    Lean beef minced fine and worked with spiced clarified butter and mitmita. Traditionally served raw — say "leb leb" if you want it lightly warmed through. ⚠ Being raw meat, it carries a higher risk of foodborne illness and parasites than cooked dishes

11. ጥሬ ሥጋ

    tire siga

    Tire siga (raw meat)

    Usage

    Literally "raw meat" — fresh beef cut at the table and eaten with awaze or mitmita, treated as a delicacy for celebrations. ⚠ It is uncooked, so it carries a risk of foodborne illness and parasites. If you want to avoid it, this is the phrase to look for on the menu

12. ቁርጥ

    qurt

    Kurt (cuts of raw beef)

    Usage

    The word itself just means "a cut". As a dish it is fresh beef carved into chunks and served raw with awaze or mitmita. ⚠ Same raw-meat risk as tire siga

13. ጎረድ ጎረድ

    gored gored

    Gored gored (cubed raw beef in spiced butter)

    Usage

    Cubed beef tossed with melted clarified butter and mitmita or awaze and served raw while still warm. Where kitfo is minced, gored gored is cubed. ⚠ Raw meat

14. ዱለት

    dulet

    Dulet (minced tripe and liver)

    Usage

    Sheep or goat tripe and liver chopped fine and worked with spices and butter. This is the word to avoid if you do not eat offal

15. ቅቅል

    qiqil

    Kikil (boiled meat)

    Usage

    From the root "to boil" — lamb or goat simmered on the bone in a mild, non-spicy broth. A reliable choice when you want meat that is definitely cooked through

16. ጎመን

    gomen

    Gomen (collard greens)

    Usage

    Chopped collard-type greens braised as a side. It appears on almost every platter. ⚠ A version cooked with meat (ጎመን በሥጋ) also exists, so ask if you are avoiding animal products

17. ፍርፍር

    firfir

    Firfir (torn injera tossed in sauce)

    Usage

    Yesterday's injera torn up and tossed through stew sauce — a breakfast staple. Also spelled ፍትፍት

18. ጨጨብሳ

    chechebsa

    Chechebsa (torn flatbread with butter and berbere)

    Usage

    Kita flatbread torn up and worked with clarified butter and berbere, eaten at breakfast. It contains butter, so it is not fasting-day food

19. ገንፎ

    genfo

    Genfo (stiff grain porridge)

    Usage

    Wheat or barley flour worked into a stiff porridge, normally served as a mound with a well in the middle holding butter and berbere. Eaten at breakfast and given to new mothers

20. ቅንጬ

    qinche

    Kinche (cracked grain porridge)

    Usage

    Wheat or barley coarsely cracked and boiled into a plain porridge, usually with butter on top. A breakfast dish

21. ቆጮ

    qocho

    Kocho (fermented enset bread)

    Usage

    A dense bread baked from fermented enset ("false banana") starch. A staple across southern Ethiopia; in Addis Ababa you find it in restaurants serving southern food

22. ቂጣ

    qita

    Kita (unleavened flatbread)

    Usage

    A thin unleavened wheat flatbread, without injera's sourness. It is also the raw material for chechebsa

23. ዳቦ ቆሎ

    dabo qolo

    Dabo kolo (small roasted dough nuggets)

    Usage

    Wheat dough with oil and sugar pinched into small pieces and roasted crunchy. It keeps well, so it travels as a snack for journeys

24. ቆሎ

    qolo

    Kolo (roasted grain)

    Usage

    Barley, wheat or chickpeas dry-roasted. The standard nibble handed round with coffee

25. ቋንጣ

    qwanta

    Kwanta (dried spiced beef)

    Usage

    Beef cut into strips, rubbed with mitmita and either areki or salt, then air-dried. It keeps, so it has long been carried as travelling provisions. It also gets rehydrated into a dish called kwanta firfir

26. በርበሬ

    berbere

    Berbere (red chilli spice blend)

    Usage

    A red powder built on chilli with garlic, ginger and other spices. It accounts for nearly all the heat and red colour in Ethiopian cooking. To find the non-spicy option on a menu, look for አልጫ instead

27. ሚጥሚጣ

    mitmita

    Mitmita (hot chilli powder for the table)

    Usage

    A hotter chilli powder than berbere, added while eating rather than during cooking. It arrives alongside raw meat and kitfo. ⚠ Genuinely hot — start with a little

28. አዋዜ

    awaze

    Awaze (chilli paste)

    Usage

    Chilli blended with other spices into a moist paste, served alongside raw meat and tibs. A menu item written awaze tibs is the hotter version of the sautéed meat

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