“I all the time bear in mind the joy round Passover, which revolved round renewal and new beginnings,” says Beejhy Barhany, the creator of Gursha: Timeless Recipes for Trendy Kitchens from Ethiopian, Israel, Harlem, and Past. For Barhany, Passover was a time to reunite with household over a meal served in handmade pottery, breaking the dishes that have been created the prior yr as a logo for the brand new beginnings. The meal needed to embrace a freshly slaughtered lamb or goat, in addition to ye tikil gomen alicha, or what Barhany refers to as “music-in-your-mouth cabbage.”
“Cabbage has been within the Ethiopian kitchen for ages,” Barhany says. “It’s a flexible vegetable full of vitamins and is so versatile which you can eat it uncooked, pickle it, sauté it, stew it, or braise it.” The music-in-your-mouth cabbage is braised alongside potatoes and carrots and seasoned with roasted korarima (a nutty Ethiopian seed that’s associated to cardamom), black pepper, and, most significantly, turmeric.
Ethiopians sometimes have fun the New Yr in September, throughout a vacation known as Meskel.
“[During that] vacation there’s a flower that blooms brilliant yellow,” Barhany explains. “The intense yellow in Ethiopia is related to new beginnings as properly, due to this fact for Passover we additionally attempt to [incorporate] yellow by utilizing turmeric.”
Barhany’s cabbage stew recipe is simple and approachable, but in addition transformative. The cabbage absorbs the flavors of garlic and ginger whereas dry-sautéed onions add delicate sweetness. To stop muddying the spices, particularly the korerima seeds, Barhany saves the aromatics for the very finish of the cooking course of, utilizing residual warmth to permit them to heat by means of with out burning or altering the flavors too drastically. “I additionally advocate not cooking the carrots too lengthy so there’s a little bit of crunch,” she advises. “When added on with the korarima, [the dish] turns into fragrant and beautiful; easy but musical.”
Ye Tikil Gomen Alicha/Caulo Recipe
Music-in-Your-Mouth Cabbage with Potatoes and Carrots
Serves 6 to eight
Substances:
3 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced crosswise into half-moons ½ inch thick
2 white potatoes, peeled and minimize into bite-sized items
2 yellow onions, sliced into skinny half-moons
½ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon floor turmeric
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus extra to style
¾ teaspoon black pepper, plus extra to style
1 head inexperienced cabbage (1½–2 kilos), cored and minimize into 1-inch-wide strips
1 tablespoon ginger/garlic paste, or 2 teaspoons minced garlic plus 1 teaspoon minced recent ginger
1 jalapeño, trimmed and minimize lengthwise into 4 lengthy strips (seeded in order for you much less warmth)
½ teaspoon Floor Roasted Korarima (recipe follows)
Directions:
Step 1: In a big bowl, cowl the carrots and potatoes with chilly water and soak at room temperature when you put together the opposite components.
Step 2: In a big deep pot with no oil, sauté the onions over medium warmth till starting to melt, 2 to three minutes. Add the oil. Drain the carrots and potatoes and add them to the pot. Cowl and prepare dinner, stirring consistently, to melt the greens, about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Stir within the turmeric, salt, and pepper. Cowl and prepare dinner, stirring often, till the carrots and potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Combine within the cabbage, cowl, and prepare dinner, stirring often, till the cabbage has shrunk and softened, about quarter-hour.
Step 4: Stir within the garlic/ginger combination, jalapeño, and korarima. Cowl and prepare dinner, stirring often, till the greens are tender and aromatic, 5 to 10 minutes. Style and add salt and pepper, if crucial.
Floor Roasted Korarima Recipe
Makes about ¼ cup
Substances:
About ⅓ cup korarima seeds
Directions:
Step 1: Heat a medium nonstick pan over medium warmth. Add the korarima seeds and roast till shiny and aromatic, 2 to three minutes. Switch to a plate or bowl and let cool utterly.
Step 2: Switch to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind right into a powder. Switch to an hermetic container.
Step 3: Retailer at room temperature for as much as 3 months.
From GURSHA: Timeless Recipes for Trendy Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem, and Past © 2025 by Tevletz Barhany-John. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random Home LLC. All rights reserved. No a part of this excerpt could also be reproduced or reprinted with out permission in writing from the writer.
