Niter Kibbeh

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Homemade Niter Kibbeh is a flavorful, rich and delicious ghee. Filled with bold aromatics, once you try cooking with this spiced ghee, you’ll find endless ways to use it.

Course Dips & Spreads

Cuisine Djiboutian, Eritrean, Ethiopian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories 137kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

Strainer/Colander
Cheesecloth

Ingredients

1 Tbsp korerima
1 lb unsalted butter
2 Tbsp koseret
1 Tbsp besobela
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 Tbsp freshly minced garlic
1 Tbsp freshly minced ginger

Instructions

In a dry pan over medium heat, roast 1 Tbsp korerima for about 2 minutes until it toasts and becomes fragrant. Place the toasted whole spices into a spice grinder and grind them into a powder.
Add 1 lb unsalted butter to a large pot on the stove and put it over medium heat, allowing the butter to melt. Once the butter melts, add 2 tsp of the ground korerima and the remainder of the spices and aromatics (2 Tbsp koseret, 1 Tbsp besobela, ¼ tsp ground turmeric, 1 Tbsp freshly minced garlic, and 1 Tbsp freshly minced ginger).
Cook over low heat, allowing the butter to bubble. A foam will start to form on top of the butter, and the bubbles will get stronger. Continue stirring during this process to release steam so that the bubbles do not spill over the top of the pot.
Cook in total for about 20-30 minutes or so, until you see the milk solids settle at the bottom of the pot.
You will know your niter kibbeh is done when most of the bubbles calm down and the film is mostly gone from the top of the butter. There may still be some white residue on the top of the butter, but most of it will be gone. There will also be a bit of a toasty brown color to the milk solids at this point. See photos above for visual cues.
At this point your ghee has finished cooking, so line a mesh strainer with a cheesecloth and place this on top of a glass bowl. Ladle the niter kibbeh into the mesh strainer so that only the clear ghee is left over and all of the spices are removed.
Place in a jar where it will harden. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational and personal use only.

Recipe researched using: How to Cook Great, Balé Moya, Abiy’s Homemade Recipes.

Use a large pot. As the butter simmers, it bubbles quite a bit. A large pot prevents the butter from boiling over. I learned this lesson the hard way after a very messy kitchen cleanup.
Add the garlic and ginger at the beginning of the process, right after the butter has melted. This allows their flavors to infuse slowly without causing excess bubbling later in the process. The first two times I made this recipe, I tried adding the garlic and ginger when there was about 10 minutes of cooking time left. This made the butter bubble SO much more, and contributed to my kitchen mess!
Keep the heat low. A gentle simmer is key to properly clarifying the butter and developing the flavors.
Watch the milk solids carefully. Once they turn lightly toasted and the bubbling slows, the butter is ready to strain. If they turn a dark brown, you have cooked them for too long!

Nutrition