Buraka ★ 4.5
Buraka on Williamson Street, the Madison Ethiopian kitchen since opening on State Street in 2000, runs vegetarian and meat tibs samplers with injera.
Try: Vegetarian Ethiopian sampler with injera
History
Ethiopian doro wat reached Madison through the Buraka Ethiopian restaurant, which opened in 2000 on State Street and reopened at its current 1210 Williamson Street location in 2016. Buraka is Madison's flagship and longest-running Ethiopian dining room; the doro wat there follows the canonical Ethiopian recipe of chicken simmered with berbere spice blend, slow-caramelized onions and niter kibbeh clarified butter, served on a platter of injera with a hard-boiled egg.
Common allergens: Eggs
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in skinless chicken legs
- 3 large red onions, finely diced
- 100g niter kibbeh or unsalted butter clarified with cardamom and fenugreek
- 60g berbere spice blend
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 30ml dry red wine
- 500ml water or chicken stock
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Salt to taste
- Injera flatbread to serve
Method
- In a heavy pot, sweat the diced onions dry over medium-low heat 30 minutes until deeply caramelized and breaking down.
- Add the niter kibbeh and berbere spice; cook 5 minutes to bloom the spices.
- Add garlic and ginger; cook 1 minute more.
- Add red wine to deglaze, then add water or stock. Bring to a simmer.
- Score each chicken leg with the lemon juice, then add to the pot. Simmer covered 45 minutes until chicken is tender.
- Add the peeled hard-boiled eggs in the last 10 minutes to absorb the sauce.
- Taste and adjust salt and berbere. The stew should be thick and deeply red.
- Serve on a large platter lined with injera, with extra injera on the side for scooping.
Tip from the editors. The 30-minute dry onion sweat is the canonical Ethiopian technique; don't skip it. Berbere quality is the make-or-break ingredient.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat doro wat
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