eathealthyandcheap.comv0.25

Awaze

Awaze

Serves 6 10 min total, 10 min hands on Ethiopian 🥣 Dip & spread $0.25 per serving No added salt

Share

Awaze is the hot paste that lives on the edge of nearly every Ethiopian plate, berbere worked into a spoonable sauce for dipping bread and vegetables. The classic version is loosened with tej, the country's honey wine, which is why store awaze can taste sweet and boozy at once. Here a single soaked date supplies that roundness and red wine vinegar supplies the wine's tang, so nothing but spice, fruit, and acid does the work. Blooming the berbere in warm water first is the one step worth not skipping, since it softens the raw chile bite and lets the fenugreek and ajwain in the blend come forward.

Ingredients

Method

  1. Soak the pitted date in 2 tablespoons (30 ml) hot water for 5 minutes, then mash it to a smooth paste with a fork. This stands in for the honey wine (tej) that rounds a traditional awaze, giving body and a faint sweetness without added sugar.
  2. Whisk the berbere with 3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water until it turns from a dry powder into a loose paste. Warm water blooms the ground spices and pulls the raw edge off the chile, the same reason you would toast a spice before using it.
  3. Stir in the grated garlic, mashed date, and red wine vinegar. The vinegar carries the wine note the tej would have given, and its acid keeps the sauce bright instead of flat.
  4. Let the awaze sit for at least 10 minutes so the flavors marry, then thin with a little more water if you want it pourable. Serve as a hot dip alongside injera, lentil stews, and vegetables. It keeps in the fridge for a week.

Nutrition

Estimated per serving: 25 calories, 1 g protein, 1 g fiber, 30 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.

Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.

More recipes like this