Zigni (Beef Stew from Eritrea)

5 from 1 vote

Zigni is a beef stew dish that is very popular in Eritrean cuisine! It is made with tomatoes, red onions, and a special spice blend called Berbere.

Course Main Course, stew

Cuisine Eritrean

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings servings

Calories 489kcal

Add vegetable oil to a pot and allow it to heat. Then, add the stew beef, cumin, turmeric, and ¼ cup tomato paste.
Add the finely diced onions and the 14 oz can of tomatoes. Stir. Cover and cook on medium heat for 2 hours.
After 2 hours add berbere spice, garlic, and butter. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

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

Vegetables: Tomato paste, red onion, can of finely diced tomatoes (can also sub fresh Roma tomatoes)

Oils: Vegetable oil, unsalted butter
Spices: Cumin, turmeric, berbere spice blend, garlic
If you want to keep the recipe from being too spicy, you can always eliminate the berbere spice blend altogether. In this case, I would still add some sprinkles of cinnamon, paprika, nutmeg, and cumin. You can omit the cayenne altogether!
To eat the Zigni in a traditional manner, you can also make Injera, a bread that the Eritreans use to scoop up the stew.
If you’d like to try a non-traditional, but also delicious way to eat this stew, you can serve it with the same ingredients you would serve chili with! When I tried it this way, I added sour cream, green onions, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips to the top of my bowl. It was delicious, and also provided my spicy-resistant mouth some sanctuary from the spiciness.
You can make the Berbere spice blend using these instructions, or you can purchase the blend from the spice section of your grocery store
The recipe is fairly greasy for Western Taste. If you want a less greasy version of the Zigni, you can use less vegetable oil or even omit the butter altogether! This should help immensely if that is what you’d prefer.