Kitfo, Cooked "Yebesele" Style (Ethiopian spiced minced beef)
Recipe No.: W-77
InternationalEthiopian30 minServes 4
Kitfo is a celebration dish in Ethiopia, associated with the Gurage people of the south, and its name is said to come from a verb meaning to chop finely. It is finely minced beef mixed with spiced clarified butter, niter kibbeh, and fiery mitmita. In Ethiopia it is served in degrees: raw ("tere"), lightly warmed ("leb leb"), or fully cooked ("yebesele"). Here we give the fully cooked version, for food safety and peace of mind; it is eaten with ayib, the mild fresh cheese, and with gomen and injera.
Origin of the dish: Ethiopia (associated with the Gurage people) — The dish is associated with the Gurage people of southern Ethiopia and is served at celebrations and holidays
Photo: Kitfo.jpg by Stu Spivack (Flickr; uploaded to Commons by Diádoco), CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Ingredients for Kitfo, Cooked "Yebesele" Style
- 500 gtender, lean halal beef (round or sirloin), finely minced by knife or on the grinder
- 5 tbsp(70 g) spiced clarified butter (niter kibbeh), or ghee with a pinch of cardamom and cumin
- 1½ tspmitmita (Ethiopian chilli blend), or 1 tsp ground hot chilli + ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tspground korarima (Ethiopian cardamom), or green cardamom
- 1 tspsalt
- To serve½ cup ayib or cottage cheese
- gomen and injera
- hot green chilli to garnish (optional)
Method
- Keep the minced beef cold in the fridge until you start cooking.
- Melt the niter kibbeh in a wide pan over very low heat.
- Add the beef and stir gently over low heat for 12–15 minutes until it has changed colour all the way through and is fully cooked; this is "yebesele". (The lighter "leb leb" only takes 3–4 minutes, but we do not recommend it here.)
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the mitmita, cardamom and salt so the spices are evenly spread.
- Serve hot in a bowl with the ayib and gomen, and injera alongside.
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