Sega Wat

The story

Sega Wat is a Ethiopian main with a clear sense of place. Sega wat is a beef member of Ethiopia’s broad wat family, using the same patient onion and spice building that defines famous chicken doro wat. The recipe below keeps the defining ingredients and technique intact while giving practical metric quantities and enough detail for a home cook to judge texture, seasoning and doneness rather than simply follow a timer.

Ingredients

• 1000 g beef chuckcut into 4 cm cubes
• 700 g red onionsfinely chopped
• 90 g niter kibbeh
• 55 g berbere
• 20 g Garlicgrated
• 15 g gingergrated
• 35 g tomato paste
• 900 ml beef stock or water
• 2 tsp fine salt

Method

1. Cook the finely chopped onions in a

   Cook the finely chopped onions in a heavy pot without fat over medium-low heat for 20–25 minutes, stirring and adding spoonfuls of water as needed until they collapse and begin to brown.

   Look for: they collapse and begin to brown Tip: Use a collagen-rich braising cut and let the sauce reduce only after the meat has softened. Avoid: Insufficient onion cooking leaves the sauce thin and harsh; adding all stock at once dilutes flavour; lean fast-cooking beef dries out.

2. Add niter kibbeh and cook 5 minutes

   Add niter kibbeh and cook 5 minutes. Stir in berbere, garlic, ginger and tomato paste and fry gently for another 4 minutes, loosening with stock if the spice mixture sticks.

3. Add beef and turn until every cube

   Add beef and turn until every cube is coated in the dark red onion paste. Cook 5 minutes before adding 650 ml stock.

   Look for: every cube is coated in the dark red onion paste

4. Bring to a simmer, cover partially and

   Bring to a simmer, cover partially and cook 70–80 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Add remaining stock only if the sauce becomes too tight before the beef is tender.

5. Uncover for the final 10 minutes and

   Uncover for the final 10 minutes and reduce until the sauce is dense and glossy. Season with salt.

   Look for: the sauce is dense and glossy

6. Rest 10 minutes and spoon over injera,

   Rest 10 minutes and spoon over injera, including enough sauce to soak into the bread without making the whole platter watery.

   Look for: Beef yields easily to a fork and the sauce stays mounded on injera instead of running across it.

Nutrition

per serving

Estimated from the listed ingredients and default serving size. Actual values vary with brands, trimming, absorption and cooking losses.