Shimbra Asa

Name: Shimbra Asa
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Ethiopia
Ingredients: 300 g chickpea flour (besan), sifted; 1 tbsp berbere spice mix; 1 tsp turmeric; 0.5 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp salt; 1 small onion, very finely grated; 2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste; 2 tbsp niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced clarified butter) or plain clarified butter; 150 ml warm water, approximately; 3 tbsp neutral oil, for frying

Ethiopian chickpea flour shaped and fried into fish forms for the Orthodox Lenten fast: ground shimbra mixed with berbere and niter kibbeh and formed to resemble fish, then pan-fried until golden, a triumph of culinary ingenuity over dietary constraint across two hundred fasting days a year

Origin: Ethiopian Highlands, Ethiopia

From the journey of Chickpea.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church mandates approximately 200 fasting days per year (among the most extensive fasting calendars of any religious tradition in the world) during which animal products including meat, fish, eggs, and dairy are forbidden. The Ethiopian kitchen's response to this constraint is one of the most creative bodies of fasting cuisine anywhere: legumes, vegetables, and grains transformed into dishes of genuine complexity and satisfaction that do not feel like deprivation. Shimbra asa is the most theatrically ingenious of these preparations: chickpea flour (shimbra) mixed with water, niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter, which is technically a non-animal fat preparation on fast days when made without its usual meat), berbere (Ethiopia's complex chilli and spice blend), onion, and garlic into a stiff dough that is then shaped and scored to resemble fish (asa means 'fish' in Amharic) and pan-fried until golden and crisp on the outside. The result is a dense, spiced chickpea flour cake with a satisfying protein density, a crust that holds together in the fingers, and a flavour entirely its own: the nutty richness of chickpea flour meeting the heat of berbere, the warmth of turmeric, and the herbal depth of niter kibbeh. It is made for Tsom (the long fasting season corresponding to Lent), for the fasting Wednesday and Friday of every week, and for the extended fasting periods of Hidar Tsom and Tsome Nebiyat.

Ingredients

Main

300 g chickpea flour (besan), sifted

Spice

1 tbsp berbere spice mix
1 tsp turmeric
0.5 tsp black pepper

Seasoning

1 tsp salt

Aromatics

1 small onion, very finely grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste

Fat

2 tbsp niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced clarified butter) or plain clarified butter

Liquid

150 ml warm water, approximately

Frying

3 tbsp neutral oil, for frying

Method

Combine the chickpea flour, berbere, turmeric, black pepper, and salt in a bowl. Add the grated onion, garlic paste, and niter kibbeh. Mix briefly.
Add warm water gradually, mixing with your hands, until you have a stiff but workable dough: stiffer than a bread dough, moister than a pastry. It should hold a shape when pressed but not crack. Rest for 5 minutes.
Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Shape each into an oval roughly 10cm long and 4cm wide, tapering at both ends to suggest a fish shape. Using the back of a knife, score diagonal lines across the surface to suggest scales. Press a small indentation at one end for the eye.
Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat. Add the shimbra asa pieces and fry for 4–5 minutes per side until golden and set, turning carefully with a spatula. Do not move them before a crust has formed or they will stick.
Drain on paper towels. Serve warm with injera, a simple herb salad, and a small mound of ayib (Ethiopian fresh cheese) if not strictly fasting.

Notes

Berbere is the essential spice mix of Ethiopian cooking, a complex blend of chilli, fenugreek, coriander, rue, korarima (Ethiopian cardamom), black pepper, and other spices that varies by household and region. It is widely available at Ethiopian grocery stores and online. Niter kibbeh, Ethiopian spiced clarified butter scented with onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, korarima, and other spices: is the defining cooking fat of the Ethiopian kitchen. In genuinely strict fasting cooking, a spiced vegetable oil is substituted. This recipe works with plain clarified butter if niter kibbeh is unavailable.

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control