Doro Wat Baked Chicken Casserole with Fresh Herbs

About This Recipe

This casserole takes its core flavor from doro wat, Ethiopia's national dish, a chicken stew built on the same slow-cooked onion foundation as every other wat, deepened with berbere, niter kibbeh and traditionally simmered with whole hard-boiled eggs that soak up the sauce. Baking the chicken in the sauce rather than simmering it entirely on the stovetop is a practical adaptation for a hands-off casserole format, letting the oven do the work of tenderizing the chicken while the sauce reduces and concentrates. The onion base still needs to be built properly on the stovetop first — there's no shortcut for the long, slow cook that gives doro wat its thick, deeply savory sauce — but once that base and the berbere are bloomed together, everything moves to the oven, where the bone-in chicken pieces braise gently until they're falling-tender. Hard-boiled eggs nestled into the sauce for the final stretch of baking pick up the berbere's color and flavor, a hallmark of the traditional dish, and fresh herbs scattered on top before serving add a layer of brightness.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1.2 kgbone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks(skin removed)
• 1 tbsplemon juice
• 1 tspfine sea salt(for chicken)
• 3 largeonions(finely chopped)
• 4 tbspniter kibbeh or vegetable oil
• 4 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tbspfresh ginger(grated)
• 3 tbspberbere spice blend
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 1.5 cupschicken stock
• 1 tspfine sea salt(for the sauce)
• 6 largeeggs(hard-boiled and peeled)
• 0.25 cupfresh cilantro(chopped, for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the chicken

   Rub chicken with lemon juice and salt. Set aside while you build the sauce.

2. 2

   Cook down the onions

   In a wide, oven-safe pot, cook onions over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 18-20 minutes until deeply softened and golden.

3. 3

   Add fat and aromatics

   Stir in niter kibbeh or oil, garlic and ginger. Cook 2 minutes until fragrant.

4. 4

   Bloom the berbere

   Add berbere and tomato paste, stirring constantly 2-3 minutes until deeply fragrant.

   Give the berbere real time in the fat here — this is the single most important step for building doro wat's signature depth of flavor.

5. 5

   Build the braise

   Pour in chicken stock and remaining salt, stirring to combine. Nestle chicken pieces into the sauce, spooning some over the top.

6. 6

   Bake

   Cover and bake at 175C (350F) for 45 minutes. Uncover, nestle hard-boiled eggs into the sauce, and bake 10-15 more minutes until the chicken is falling-tender and the sauce has thickened.

7. 7

   Serve

   Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve with injera or rice, spooning the thickened sauce generously over everything.

Variations

• •

  Use bone-in chicken breast if you prefer white meat, though thighs and drumsticks traditionally hold up better to the long braise.

• •

  Add a few extra hard-boiled eggs if you like — they're often the most requested part of the dish.

• •

  Serve directly on a large piece of injera instead of on a plate, the traditional communal presentation.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days; the flavor deepens overnight, making leftovers arguably even better. Reheat gently on the stovetop or in a covered dish in a 160C (325F) oven until warmed through.

Frequently Asked Questions