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Atakilt Wat – Ethiopian Cabbage Potato Carrots. Easy spiced side full of amazing flavor. free of Dairy, egg, corn, soy, yeast, nut, gluten, grain.
Seattle has an abundance of Ethiopian food. After Indian, Ethiopian is always the next choice when we want some spice and deep flavors in the meal. The veggie platter filled with 2 to 4 different simmered lentil dishes, greens, simmered okra, cabbage pcarrot wat, all served up over the huge Injera. There are several Ethiopian restaurants in Seattle. A lot of them however are usually a miss when it comes to maintaining the taste and quality of the food. Or maybe I am picky 🙂 Seattle-lites, what is your favorite Ethiopian restaurant?
Atakilt Wat/ Atkilt wot is a cabbage side that is so close to the Indian cabbage dishes and yet has its own flavor profile. The traditional recipe may or may note use uses niter kibeh which is butter/ghee slow-infused with whole spices like cardamom, cinnamon, fenugreek, cloves, ginger, garlic etc. by cooking everything on low heat for hours. You can make niter qibe/ kibeh with coconut or olive oil(see my second book for a recipe) and use about a Tbsp in this recipe instead of all the spices and oil. Since I don’t usually have the infused oil ready, I add the spices to oil in the second step to infuse the oil while cooking (indian food style) for my interpretation of atakilt wat. You can omit the spices. Cook the dish at lower heat for best results. Serve with Ethiopian flat breads or other flat breads and lentil stews.
More Ethiopian from the blog.
Steps:
cook the onion, garlic, ginger for 5 minutes.
Add all the spices and cook to infuse the oil to make a quick niter kibeh.
Add the veggies, cover and cook until tender.
Serve hot.
Video:
Atakilt Wat - Ethiopian Cabbage Potato Carrots. Vegan Gluten-free Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil or vegan butter, divided
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 green chili, chopped (optional)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds or powder
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/8 tsp cloves powder
- a generous dash of black pepper
- 3/4 cup sliced carrots
- 2 medium potatoes, chopped, 1.5 loaded cups
- 1/2 head of cabbage, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a large skillet, add 1 tsp oil and heat at medium-low. Once hot, Add garlic, ginger, chili, and onion. Mix, cook for 4 minutes.
- Add the cumin, turmeric, fenugreek seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper. Mix and cook for 3 minutes to infuse the oil and to continue cooking the onion to golden.
- Add the carrots, potato and mix well. Add cabbage and 1/4 tsp salt. Mix well, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir once in between.
- Add 1/4 tsp or more salt, and 1 tsp olive oil. Mix in. Deglaze at this time with water if needed Cover and Cook for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. *
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love this simple dish. Especially with cabbage from my garden. Wonderful. I used half the oil. Definitely making it again and again and again.
awesome!
Wow! Thank you for the amazing recipe.
This is truly one of the best things I have ever eaten! I was trying to use up some cabbage and carrot remnants from my fridge and found your page. I had red carrots and half red cabbage/ half regular.
Had no cardamom or ginger. Used almost no oil and only a pinch of salt. STILL INCREDIBLE.
Looked so pretty with the red ingredients and everything yellow from turmeric. I will be tripling the recipe within the next couple days, and checking out your other recipes. Thanks again!
awesome!
Just curious: did Ethiopians contribute to this recipe? I’m not trying to be rude, I just want to know how authentic it is.
yes in a way. My ethiopian neighbor told me her general recipe long ago. She uses spiced oil. i looked up the spiced oil recipe from an ethiopian cookbook and used some of those spices(spices that are used in the spiced oil/butter) directly in the recipe instead. So its an adapted or inspired version.
I’m wondering how you manage to keep your recipes so ‘spot on’? Absolutely and entirely phenomenal! I added diced tomatoes and zucchini but otherwise no changes to your recipe. A sure WINNER! Thanks for your work and always yummy recipes !
you are too kind 🙂 i am glad all the recipes work out so well!
I did this recipe 2 times and this will not be the last. This is so good ! So much flavor !
Thanks 🙂
awesome!
I tried this and liked it. I’m always looking for good ways to consume cabbage. Here was my attempt: https://tmifood.wordpress.com/2017/08/07/atakilt-wat/
Can I use sweet potatos or is it better with white?
its better with white potatoes but sweet potatoes should work too
Carrots, cabbage, and potatoes, one of my favorite combinations. I can’t wait to make this.
We were hosting social hour at church and making corned beef and cabbage. I found your recipe and prepared a triple batch as a vegan option. Suffice to say it ran out first and people were begging for the recipe! I’m making it again tonight so I’ll get to have more than a taste. Delightful dish, and I can’t wait to try it with cauliflower and green beans!
So fun! Glad everyone loved it!
I’m a little confused on how to cook these vegetables without any liquid. @ 2 teaspoons of oil or butter doesn’t seem to be enough to last long enough to cook them until tender. Am I missing some other form of liquid?
Hi Melissa, the veggies get cooked in their own moisture. they are covered and cooked, so the moisture stays in. Check halfway through, If they start to stick, add a couple of splashes of water, mix in and continue to cook.
I had to add some broth