Topping The Nile’s menu is a signature Ethiopian dish, doro wat. Chicken pieces are stewed and infused with lemon, chile, butter, onions, garlic, ginger and cardamom.
“Chickens are expensive in Ethiopia,” he said. “When you are guest in my house, I will serve you doro wat to express my respect.” At home doro wat is a time-consuming, scratch-made treat that’s rarely prepared.
Almost every dish comes with injera. The Nile’s kitchen prepares a fresh batch of the soft, pliable sourdough flatbread every day made from a tiny grain called teff.
“We eat a lot of cheese,” he said with a grin, and butter is involved in most preparations. The Nile makes its own cheese – a fresh, crumbly cottage-style. In the appetizer ayib bemitmita, the cheese is spiced up with ground hot red chile. Another famous starter is the sambusa, a hand-sized pastry filled with either spiced beef, lentils or spinach.
Newcomers are sometimes surprised at the the wide range of beef dishes. They range from kitfo, a delightful form of steak tartare, to tibs wat, finely chopped beef simmered in onion sauce, garlic and ginger. Besides the chicken and many lamb sautes, one of the most striking dishes is fish tibs derek, a whole, deep fried fish.
“When our friends bring their friends they experience something they did not know before,” Gebru said.
Most of the dishes can be made as fiery or as mild as the diner requests.
Many vegetarians love Ethiopian cuisine because it features an array of warm and cold dishes involving lentil, greens and veggies that have always been meatless. And diners seeking a great gluten-free dinner can call the restaurant in advance to order wheat-free injera and other dishes.
It’s worth stopping by The Nile simply to experience the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Green coffee beans from the region where coffee originated are, roasted, ground and brewed in the dining room creating a perfume any java lover would crave.
On Sundays, Gebru said, large Ethiopian families gather at The Nile for dinner. The Nile has several mesob, the brightly colored tables hand-woven from reeds in Ethiopia. The round serving tray is placed atop the mesob and guests lean to the middle to nab a nibble.
Whether it is in an Ethiopian home or a cafe, if you sit down you will be fed because you must be fed. So Aster Haile brings food out, even if you are a journalist who just had breakfast and insists he is just there to talk. And you sit and eat and delight in the flavors.
As Gebru noted: “When you are sitting down for food, it’s a gift from God.”
Ethiopian Glossary: From awaze to dulet to fitfit
Awaze: A condiment made from hot peppers, oil and spices
Berbere: Like Indian masala, berbere is a dry spice mixture of chiles, ginger, garlic and diverse spices
Dulet: A sauteed combination of beef, liver and tripe in spicy butter sauce
Lamb tibs firfir: Lamb cubes and injera pieces sauteed with vegetables and peppers
Gored gored: Beef cubes cooked with berbere, butter, ginger and garlic
Kitfo: Ethiopian steak tartare with butter sauce (left)
Yemisir wat: Lentils stewed with berbere
Yetimatim fitfit: A bread salad that combines injera pieces with tomatoes, onions and green peppers in a house vinaigrette
The Nile Ethiopian Restaurant
1951 S. Havana St., Aurora
John Lehndorff is the Food Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Contact him at jlehndorff@aurorasentinel.com.