Ethiopian Yellow Split Peas (Kik Alitcha)

Tender yellow split peas with a hint of garlic and ginger – fragrant Kik Allitcha

Yesterday my dear friend LS invited me to join a dinner party she was giving at a local Ethiopian restaurant.  (Thank you for a fabulous evening!)

Our huge plated was piled high with many different sauces and reminded me that I really cannot get away with only posting recipes for Ethiopian Injera and Lamb Stew. An Ethiopian feast is simply not complete without those many vegetarian dishes made from vegetables and pulses. One of my favourites is this sauce made from yellow split peas.

Instead of yellow split peas you can also use regular green lentils. Another tasty and quicker alternative are red lentils: There is no need to pre-cook these; they only need to be washed and can then be added straight to the onions.

 

Ingredients
150g yellow split peas
2 onions
3 tbsp oil
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 cm piece ginger (about the same amount as garlic)
1/2 tsp tumeric
salt
green jalapeno pepper (large chili pepper)

 

Recipe

1. Wash the peas in a sieve until the water runs clear.
2. Place in a medium size pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer on a low flame until they start to become a little tender. About 30 min.
3. Allow to cool..
4. Chop the onion very fine (in a food processor).
5. Bring some water (about 1 l) to the boil.
6. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a medium size pot. Gently fry the onions until they are translucent. Should they start sticking and burning add a little hot water.
7. Add the peas.
8. Squeeze garlic and ginger in through a garlic press.
9. Add turmeric and salt.
10. Cover the peas with boiling water and allow to simmer on a low flame until tender, about 20 min.
11. Remove seeds from the jalapeno and cut it into thin slices or strips. Stir most of the jalapeno into the stew and decorate it with the remainder.

 

Tips & Variations

• Replace the yellow split peas with regular green lentils
• Replace the yellow split peas with red lentils. There is no need to pre-cook these; they only need to be washed and can then be added straight to the onions.
• Make a triple amount of the onions sauce. Use one third for the split peas, a third for lentils and a third for gomen (a kale side dish).

Serve with

• Injera (Sour Pancakes)
• Beg Wot (Lamb Stew)
• Gomen (Kale)
• Doro Wot (Chicken Stew)
• Alitscha (Mild vegetables)
• Kitfo (Mince meat)
• Aib (Cottage cheese)

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• entertaining
• Ethiopian
• healthy
• make ahead
• side dish
• vegetarian