Ethiopian Spiced Chicken Stew

I know you are already getting tired of my slow cooked recipes but they have been a life saver.  Plus this one is exceptional, amazing, just plain WOW.  It comes from this months Eating Well magazine that I got by mistake, meaning it was a subscription I got because of subscribing to another mag.  I am so glad that I did because it is by far my favorite food magazine EVAA and when the february issue came out with new crock pot recipes I vowed to make them all.  Starting with the most exotic one of the bunch Ethiopian Spiced Chicken.

To be honest I never tried Ethiopian food and since I  already had all the spices from my last excursion to an Indian Market I rolled up my sleeves and dug in.

You will need: 1 1/2 cups lentils (red preferred), 2 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, 1 tbs butter, 3 tsp olive oil, 4 cups chopped red onions (2 med or 1 extra large), 5 cloves garlic, 1 tbs minced ginger, 5 tbs berbere spice blend (see note), 1/4 cup dry red wine, 1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes, 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth.

Note: Berbere is a blend of garlic, fenugreek, allspice, red pepper, ginger, chiles, coriander, cinnamon and black pepper spices, made available for purchase in specialty stores.  It is a staple of Ethiopian cooking but it can be easily made from well stocked spice rack (especially if you make Indian food).

Mix 4tbs garam masala, 1 tbs hot paprika, 1 tsp ground fenugreek and 1 tsp salt.  Yields exact amount for the recipe.

Wash lentils in cold water until water runs clean.  Make sure you look through them lately I have been founding either very dried up lentil or a stone in a bag which is never pleasant to see or bite into.

Spread the drained lentils on the bottom of the slow cooker and top with trimmed chicken (don’t worry there is much more of it)

Dice the onions

Mince the garlic

Peel and grate the ginger root

I had to make my own spice so I placed 4 tbs Garam Masala (also a spice mix available in most grocery stores, sometimes I find it at Walmart but not Kroger, go figure),

1 tbs paprika (I used mild since there are kids in this house, but you can get spicy)

1 tsp ground fenugreek that I did purchase in an Indian store few weeks ago.  I guess if you have to make a spice run may as well get berbere.

and 1 tsp salt

Melt 1 tbs butter in the pan

Add onions and cook till soften 4-6 minutes

Add garlic and ginger and cook till fragrant 1-2 minutes

Dump the spices and cook until well mixed in

and very fragrant 2-4 minutes

Now it is time to open the wine, unless you opened it already.  You know I did.  1/2 cup of red wine to deglaze the pan, the rest MINE.

Deglazing means using wine (alcohol) or stock to scrape off the bits and pieces stuck to the pan while the liquid evaporates.

Add can of tomatoes and mix till mixed (I love my extended vocabulary)

Time to top the chicken with the pan mixture and pour 2 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth on top.

Cover and cook until chicken is falling apart, about 5 hours on high, 7-8 hours on low.

The end result is amazing flavorful stew that everyone in my family loved.  Actually I had an impromptu friends show up and they loved it too.  Thankfully the recipe was nearly allergen free meaning gluten free, dairy free, nut free.  It is also very inexpensive.  I have never cooked much with chicken thighs before but whole 2.5 lbs was only 5$ or so.

I guess it all depends on the wine you use but according to the magazine this meal makes 8 servings about 1 1/4 cups each when the cost per serving is 2.50$. Here is the nutritional info per Serving:

406 calories, 13 g fat (4g sat, 5g mono), 89 mg cholesterol, 34 g carbohydrate, 0g sugar, 36 g protein, 7g fiber, 672 mg sodium, 672 mg potassium.  High in Iron (28% daily value)), Zinc (27% dv), Folate (26% dv), Potassium and Vitamin C (20% dv), Magnesium (16% dv).

Not only great tasting but easy and good for you too.