Spicy African Chicken Curry, or Doro Wat

Now that I finally have a reliable berbere recipe, I can sink my teeth into some further Wat recipes. A Wat is essentially an Ethiopian stew or curry that centers around the berbere spice mix. The ingredients across Wat recipes seem to be pretty standard, though I was intrigued by the addition of lemon in this recipe, which I hadn’t seen in other wats. It should be noted that my berbere recipe is fairly mild; I like to be in control of the relative spice levels of any recipe I’m making, and depending on who I’m making it for, I don’t want the addition of more berbere necessarily to mean an increase in spice levels. For that reason I remind us cooks with the ingredient of “additional hot pepper” to add some to taste if your berbere isn’t fundamentally spicy. But if you’re using a berbere with a lot of hot pepper already in it, be careful! My 3 tablespoons may be too much depending on the spiciness of your mix.

SPICY AFRICAN CHICKEN CURRY

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter or oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons berbere
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
3 oz (1/2 a 6oz can) of tomato paste
2 tablespoons cilantro chutney
salt and pepper
additional hot pepper, to taste
extra water

Marinate the chicken pieces in the lemon juice and salt. Meanwhile, saute the onions, garlic and ginger in the butter or oil until onions are softened. Add the berbere and a little extra water, as needed, and fry the spices for an additional 10 to 20 minutes. Add the red wine, broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, and the chicken pieces with lemon juice marinade included. Stew on low fire until chicken reaches desired doneness. When nearly ready to serve, add the cilantro chutney and season with additional salt and pepper. Serve with rice or flatbread.