Tum’tumo is best made with berbere, an intense terracotta-coloured spice blend that Ethiopian and Eritrean recipes use for big flavour. Shewa has great bags of it in the kitchen and says that if you can't find it in big supermarkets or ethnic stores, it can happily be replaced by cayenne pepper. Shewa also uses a spice blend she makes by throwing an equal measure of nigella seeds, cardamom, cloves and ajwain seeds into a coffee grinder for a quick blast.
Shewa served the tumtumo with kale steamed with garlic and bay leaves, and another dish of mustard leaves and spinach boiled with bright orange squash. These sat atop the iInjera, the sour, pancake-like flatbread Eritreans use as base plate and cutlery in one.
We all ate with our fingers, gathered around one large injera, spooning blobs of curry onto its airy surface, tearing and gathering as much as possible in one pinch, guided by Shewa the Expert Ripper. Never has anyone made hand-eating look so elegant while moving us to tears with remarkable stories.
Feeds 4–6
Takes 20 minutes, plus optional soaking time
Ingredients
400g red lentils
1 tbsp berbere spice mix (see mix below)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions (red or white), finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp sea salt
For the berbere spice mix (makes about 75g)
1 tbsp dried chilli
1 tbsp nigella seeds
1 tbsp cardamom, shells removed
1 tbsp cloves
1 tbsp cumin seeds
Method
If you have time, soak your lentils for 15–30 minutes before cooking to help with digestion. If not, simply rinse under a cold tap; they will still cook fine.
If you are making your own berbere blend, do this now by grinding all the listed spices together. You’ll have some left to play with in the future.
Heat the sunflower oil in a pan and soften the onions. Add the chopped garlic and berbere, stir for 1 minute, and follow with the red lentils (drained and rinsed, if soaked).
Add boiling water to cover the lentils and then the same amount of water again. Simmer on a low heat for 10–15 minutes, stirring every so often to help the lentils break down and stop it sticking on the bottom of the pan.
When the lentils have broken down and combined, remove from the heat, season with 2 tsp of sea salt and serve.
