Atakilt Wat – Ethiopian Cabbage Potato Carrots. Easy spiced side full of amazing flavor. free of Dairy, egg, corn, soy, yeast, nut, gluten, grain.
Seattle has an abundance of Ethiopian food. After Indian, Ethiopian is always the next choice when we want some spice and deep flavors in the meal. The veggie platter filled with 2 to 4 different simmered lentil dishes, greens, simmered okra, cabbage pcarrot wat, all served up over the huge Injera. There are several Ethiopian restaurants in Seattle. A lot of them however are usually a miss when it comes to maintaining the taste and quality of the food. Or maybe I am picky 🙂 Seattle-lites, what is your favorite Ethiopian restaurant?
Atakilt Wat/ Atkilt wot is a cabbage side that is so close to the Indian cabbage dishes and yet has its own flavor profile. The traditional recipe may or may note use uses niter kibeh which is butter/ghee slow-infused with whole spices like cardamom, cinnamon, fenugreek, cloves, ginger, garlic etc. by cooking everything on low heat for hours. You can make niter qibe/ kibeh with coconut or olive oil(see my second book for a recipe) and use about a Tbsp in this recipe instead of all the spices and oil. Since I don’t usually have the infused oil ready, I add the spices to oil in the second step to infuse the oil while cooking (indian food style) for my interpretation of atakilt wat. You can omit the spices. Cook the dish at lower heat for best results. Serve with Ethiopian flat breads or other flat breads and lentil stews.
More Ethiopian from the blog.
Steps:
cook the onion, garlic, ginger for 5 minutes.
Add all the spices and cook to infuse the oil to make a quick niter kibeh.
Add the veggies, cover and cook until tender.
Serve hot.
Video:
Atakilt Wat - Ethiopian Cabbage Potato Carrots. Vegan Gluten-free Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil or vegan butter divided
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 green chili chopped (optional)
- 1/2 cup (80 g) chopped onion
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cumin powder
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) fenugreek seeds or powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cardamom powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cinnamon powder
- 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) cloves powder
- a generous dash of black pepper
- 3/4 cup (96 g) sliced carrots
- 2 medium potatoes chopped, 1.5 loaded cups
- 1/2 (0.5 ) head of cabbage finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
Instructions
- In a large skillet, add 1 tsp oil and heat at medium-low. Once hot, Add garlic, ginger, chili, and onion. Mix, cook for 4 minutes.
- Add the cumin, turmeric, fenugreek seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper. Mix and cook for 3 minutes to infuse the oil and to continue cooking the onion to golden.
- Add the carrots, potato and mix well. Add cabbage and 1/4 tsp salt. Mix well, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir once in between.
- Add 1/4 tsp or more salt, and 1 tsp olive oil. Mix in. Deglaze at this time with water if needed Cover and Cook for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. *
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This dish was a delicious! Toward the end of preparation, I definitely added more salt and about 1/4 teaspoon of authentic berbere seasoning for a little kick.
berbere is amazing
I am opposite of a good cook, this recipe makes me optimistic that I can make a tastier dish . The style is intriguing and the simplicity is so appealing! I hole to also add the flatbread recipe next.
yay!! so good to hear
This makes a lot more than expected! it’s like twice the recipe. I also serve it with rice and beans so it’s a very filling meal. I make it all the time. I love it and i love how it’s super cheap and easy to customize with whatever you have on hand. I’ve been making this recipe for years every week. measure your spices tho, it’s easy to put too much, especially cumin, and the recipe will be a bit intense. cut it with rice if that happens, it’s not ruined anyways. honey also ads a nice balance ti the spices!
wow, thank you
Knocked it outta the park with this one! Wow! Beautifully spiced, texture was just right, and those last 15 minutes of covered cooking to soften the vegetables and meld the flavors worked like a charm. I used Ghee instead of vegan butter & I needed to double it so there was enough oil available when I added in the spices. Other than that – really impressed by the aromatics and proportions. I eat Ethiopian regularly and this would do any restaurant proud. Really enjoyed making & eating this one.
perfect. glad you liked it, thank you
My family loved this recipe! Fast and easy, I can totally see this becoming a weekly staple.
perfect
This was so yummy!
Awesome!! Thank you
Love the flavour! My creation did not turn out as colourful as the one shown here. I stirred in too much water, then stirred the whole dish a bit too long, talked too long on the phone while the dish was cooking, and everything ended up a bit brown. However, this didn’t bother me and the flavoured spice water mix as well as the dish were delicious! Shall make this dish again one day!
This sounds so good! Could I use a jalepino pepper instead
Of the green chili?
I don’t see why not
I just made this ….. so good. I am always so happy when your recipes show up when I search a dish because I know it’ll be amazing. Thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Just made this and it was delicious. I didn’t have fenugreek or cardamom, and I added a tsp of berbere. I thought the vegetables would stick like crazy but they release more liquid than you’d expect. We ate it over rice but one of these days I will try to make your injera.
Just curious, do you know what the difference is between this dish and tikil gomen?
awesome!! sometimes the Tikil calls for berbere spice
I made this tonight without the potatoes or cardamom since I didn’t have those ingredients. It was absolutely delicious! Thanks for another simple and quick veggie dish!
This looks delicious! Is it possible to cook this in an instant pot?
thank you! yes – just use the saute feature first and then pressure setting for 15 minutes.
Delicious and authentic Ethiopian flavor!