Abyssinia Kitchen

Cooked from scratch with quality fresh ingredients and no preservatives, the dishes at Abyssinia Kitchen showcase the exotic and aromatic flavours and vibrant colours of Ethiopia-born owner Hilina’s homeland through her own creations and her family’s traditional recipes.

Turmeric gives many of the sauteed and braised vegetable dishes their golden hue, while different combinations of garlic, ginger, chillies, onions and Ethiopian spices bring the unique tastes. One such spice blend integral to Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking is the fiery berbere, which uses chillies, garlic, fenugreek and a complex combination of warm spices from the region, including korarima, rue, ajwain and radhuni – it’s therefore difficult to find an authentic version in the UK, so Abyssinia Kitchen gives you a rare opportunity to try the real deal.

Juicy, spice-rich stews are called wots – the doro wot is a national favourite, with chicken marinated and cooked in a mild spiced onion, tomato and garlic sauce, shiro wot is based on chickpeas and difen miser sot on green lentils, while siga wot uses slowly cooked diced lean beef and potato. Marinated beef sautéed with mild Ethiopian spices, onion, garlic, rosemary, pepper and fresh tomato is yesega tibs, and beef features alongside pork in the meatballs, cooked with garlic, rosemary and a hint of berbere, and served with awase, a sweet spiced sauce. All are served on injera, a sourdough flatbread that mops up the sauce and can be used to eat instead of cutlery, or rice, making things gluten free.

Traditionally, Ethiopian meals are finished with a coffee ritual, and the aromatic Sidamo beans at Abyssinia Kitchen are hand-roasted medium to dark in house before being ground fresh for each serving.

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