Genfo, Ethiopian Barley Porridge
Genfo is Ethiopian comfort at its most basic, a stiff porridge of toasted barley or wheat flour that shows up at breakfast, at celebrations, and at the bedside of anyone unwell. It is cooked down much thicker than an oatmeal, kneaded with a spoon until it holds its shape, then mounded in a bowl with a crater pressed into the middle. That well is traditionally filled with niter kibbeh, the spiced clarified butter, and a heap of berbere, and the porridge is pulled through it bite by bite. Left out of the butter, the dish loses none of its character: a berbere paste slackened with the hot cooking water fills the well with all the warmth and none of the fat. Grind whole barley for the flour and toast it first, since the roasted note is what makes genfo taste like more than paste.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Hulled barley, ground to a flour
- 1 tbsp Berbere
- 1 clove Garlic, grated
- 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seed, ground
Method
- Grind the hulled barley to a coarse flour in a blender, about 1 minute, or start from whole-grain barley flour. Keeping it whole grain is the point; it carries the fiber and bran that a refined flour throws away.
- Toast the barley flour in a dry pot over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it smells nutty and darkens a shade, about 3 minutes. This light toast gives genfo its roasted backbone and takes the raw edge off the flour.
- Bring 2.5 cups (590 ml) water to a simmer, then rain in the toasted flour in a thin stream while whisking hard. Adding it gradually and whisking is what keeps it from seizing into lumps; the porridge thickens fast.
- Switch to a sturdy spoon and cook, stirring and pressing against the pot, for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is very thick, smooth, and pulls away from the sides in a mass. Genfo is meant to be stiff, closer to a soft dough than a loose porridge, so cook it down until a spoon stands up in it.
- Mound the porridge in a bowl and press a wide well into the center with the back of the spoon. Stir the berbere, garlic, and fenugreek with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the hot cooking water into a loose paste and pour it into the well. The traditional well holds spiced clarified butter; a berbere paste loosened with the porridge's own water delivers the same hit of spice with no oil.
- Eat from the outside in, pulling each spoonful of plain porridge through the spiced well so it picks up as much or as little heat as you like. Serve hot; it stiffens as it cools, so make it to order.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 230 calories, 7 g protein, 8 g fiber, 25 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.
