Kik Wat (Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew)

I scaled the recipe down to 1/5th of the normal volume, which makes 4 servings when mixed with rice. Delicious, but sadly too spicy for me- my husband thought it was great though! If anyone needs it, the scaled down measurements are as follows: 1 yellow onion, 1 red onion, 5 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup canola oil, 2 Tablespoons berbere, 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes, 1 cup red lentils, 2 cups water, 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Phenomenal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Done and done!!!!!!! This recipe made a LOT of food... but I tried a bunch of Ethiopian dishes including meat dishes and this was by far the winner of the bunch. The good thing about making this quantity of food in one sitting is that it freezes well and is even more delicious when you go back to it. I failed attempting to make injera, so I probably won't try that again however I served it with rice which paired perfectly with it. I found smoked Basmati rice at my supermarket... and WOW! The perfect pairing!!!

This was very delicious. I halved the recipe and it was still so much food! I didn't have crushed tomatoes so I substituted half a can of tomato paste. Also I only used about half the onions because I just didn't have that many onions. I served it over basmati rice. It made really nice lunch leftovers too.

Omg this is such a great recipe. My boyfriend and I made this tonight and loved loved loved it. I put hard-boiled eggs in it with fresh tomatoes instead of crushed. Thank you for this awesome recipe!

Delicious. My family loved this spicy stew on a chilly fall night. Served with warm naan. Heavenly. I cooked on the stove, refrigerated overnight, and heated in the crock pot all afternoon.

It may depend on which berbere powder you use, but I put in half the given amount of berbere and it was still wayyy too spicy for a North American family (my kids wouldn't eat it even after we added coconut milk, extra tomatoes, and sugar to help cool it down). I would suggest starting with maybe 1/5 the berbere and then adding the right amount to taste at the end. Recipe instructions also could use to be rewritten so they don't include ingredient amounts (which don't match the ingredient list when the recipe is scaled down). Default recipe size of 16 servings was way too large. I scaled it down to "six" servings and we will have enough leftovers to last the rest of the week.

I love everything about this recipe. I use Vegetable broth to saute onions and garlic.

Delicious

A very aromatic blend of spices, unique, and healthy with the red lentils as we try to eat more vegetarian dishes in our diet. The Whole family loves this recipe. I make the berbere at home and without the fenugreek, and scale down to 1/5th, then serve over jasmine rice.

I love Ethiopian food and have eaten lentils in a few different Ethiopian restaurants. I was excited to try this recipe. However, it was a real disappointment. It just ended up tasting like lentils with a very oniony and slightly spicy spaghetti sauce.

Very easy directions. Followed to a ‘T’ but next time I will use a teaspoon less cardamom and add in an extra tablespoon of berbere in the initial stage of cooking. The cardamom was overpowering in the end and took from the essential flavor added in by the berbere spice mixture. If you are making a full batch, I would plan it for a full stock pot and either can!

Halved the recipe (8 servings) but still used 1/2cup Berbere seasoning since the instructions don’t change when you adjust the servings. I was worried it would be overpowering, but it is so delicious. I substituted the canola oil for olive oil. So much food!!