Inhabiting hundreds of small villages in the Amhara and Tigray regions of northern Ethiopia, the origin and history of Ethiopian Jews continues to be a mystery. Their own traditions and that of Medieval Jews link them to the apocryphal tribe of Dan, or to the romantic union of Solomon with the equally apocryphal Queen of Sheba. The existence of Jewish populations in Ethiopia has been documented for a thousand years, but it's unknown whether the current population descends from that one. Genetically, Ethiopian Jews are very much like other Ethiopians, which suggests that the population converted to Judaism and one or more points throughout their history.

Ethiopian Judaism differs significantly from rabbinical Judaism in that it is ignorant of the Talmud other Jewish traditions. Both Ethiopian Jewish and Christian traditions have incorporated Jewish prohibitions against eating pork and shellfish, but neither includes the prohibition against mixing beat and diary - this is fortunate, as much Ethiopian food is cooked on spiced butter.

Ethiopian Jewish cuisine is almost identical to Ethiopian cuisine, but Ethiopian Jews do not eat raw meat dishes such as kitfo. Vegetarian dishes, being cheaper and easier to access, were most commonly eaten by Ethiopian Jews with meat dishes left for the shabbat - when hey were eaten at room temperature due to the Jewish prohibition on working.

For my quick sojourn into Ethiopian Jewish cuisine, I made:

Kik Alicha

Yellow Split Peas

A dish of yellow split peas cooked in spiced oil, kik alicha is my daughter's favorite Ethiopian dish. She orders it each and every time we visit an Ethiopian restaurant. It was thus inevitable that I'd make it for her. She was happy enough with this version, though perhaps not as much as with professionally made ones.

Serve it with injera. Feel free to use my quick injera recipe.

This recipe comes from an Ethiopian Jewish chef who was born in Ethiopia, raised in Israel and now owns and Ethiopian-Israeli restaurant in NYC.

PRINT PDF

Kik Alicha Ingredients 2 cups yellow split peas 2 white onions, peeled and quartered 4 garlic cloves, peeled 1" ginger root, peeled 1/2 cup cooking oil 1 Tbsp ground turmeric 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 jalapeño pepper, trimmed and quartered (optional) Directions Place split peas in a bowl, cover with warm water and let soak for an hour. Meanwhile puree the onions, garlic and ginger together with a blender, food processor or mortar and pestle. Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat and add the pureed vegetables. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes, stirring as needed. Stir in the turmeric and cook for 5 minutes. Rinse the split peas and add to the saucepan. Add 2 cups of water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Check seasoning. Add the jalapeño, if using.

Adapted from Beejhy Barhany's recipe at My Jewish Learning

East African cuisines I've explored so far: Acholi, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Kenyan, Mozambican

Jewish cuisines I've explored so far Afghani Jewish, American Jewish, Baghdadi Jewish, Bene Israel, Bukharian Jewish, Calcuttan Jewish, Cochin Jewish, Egyptian Jewish, Georgian Jewish, Greek Jewish , Israeli, Kurdish Jewish, Libyan Jewish

Do you have a comment on this recipe? Please make it here