An Ethiopian Feast at Abyssinia

The bunch ventured up to Harlem to experience an Ethiopian feast at this charming little hole in the wall called Abyssinia. 

Our great experience included vegetable and meat sambusas.  Triangular, fried pockets filled with lentils or ground beef.

The sambusas were not greasy, hot and crispy on the outside and the lentils had good flavor, nicely accented by the spicy red sauce.  I find that anything fried, wrapped in crispy fried dough is delicious. Empanadas, potstickers, eggrolls, you name it, I love it.

Then a few extra large platters filled the tables!

The platters had a variety of meats, which included tibs (spiced, sliced beef), doro wat (chicken simmered in Berbere sauce) and everyone's favorite, yebeg alicha (lamb cooked in butter with onions and green peppers).

There were a variety of vegetables on the platter, like beets, greenbeans, chopped onions, pureed chickpeas, and collard greens.

The platters were accompanied by freshly made injera, thin, slightly sour, spongy crepes, used to pick up items from the platter.

A few platefuls of injera later, our chicken was picked clean!

Our gracious chef showed us the teff flour that is used to make the injera, imported from Ethiopia.

And then she invited us into the kitchen to see how it was made !  (I love kitchen invites !)  The teff flour is just mixed with water.

And then poured onto large hot plates.  She pours the teff flour mixture onto one side of the plate.

And then tilts the plate down to have the mixture glide to all the edges.

The injera takes only minutes to bubble up and cook.  The chef then swiftly lifts the injera off the plate with a straw disc and glides it to the side to cool before serving.

I couldn't imagine a more gracious and welcoming restaurant for the students to experience their first Ethiopian meal.  The restaurant is warm, the food is good, and quite light on the wallet !

Abyssinia
221 W 116th
New York, NY