Tsion Bellete’s stew kits need just water, oil and 20 minutes of simmer time.
In a Stew
Tsiona Bellete, a Gaithersburg resident who opened Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant in Rockville in 2012, has created a line of products so you can experience some of her tasty cooking at home. Three stew kits (red lentil, brown lentil and split pea) are available in mild and spicy versions—the first seasoned with turmeric, carom seed, ginger, garlic and dried minced onion; the second with Ethiopian berbere spice mix (ground red chili peppers, allspice, cardamom, rue seed, fenugreek, black pepper, cumin, rosemary and nutmeg). Add water and oil to the legumes and spice packets, simmer for 20 minutes or so and serve. Bellete also hopes to launch a line of already prepared stews this fall in local grocery stores.
Better than the stews, though, are the chips Bellete fashions out of injera, the addictive, tangy, spongy Ethiopian bread made with teff flour. (Teff, a fine, dark grain, is a staple of the Ethiopian diet.) The crispy squares, curled slightly at the edges for extra scooping power, come in four flavors: spicy (with super fiery bird’s eye chili); mild; sea salt and garlic; and cinnamon sugar.
Tsiona Gourmet Ethiopian Foods, 301-922-2910, www.tsionafoods.com
