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Ethiopia, Middle East and Africa

Siga Tibs (Ethiopian Sautéed Beef)

Ethiopia's favourite everyday sauté: beef cubes seared hard, then tossed with spiced butter, red onion, green chilli and rosemary, served on injera.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time22 min
DifficultyEasy
About servingsWhole-muscle beef that is well browned outside is generally safe slightly pink inside. For young children, pregnant women and older people, cook it through in the final step.

Method

  1. Pat the beef very dry with paper towels and cut it into 2 cm cubes; wet meat steams instead of browning. Thinly slice the onion, mince the garlic, deseed the chilli and cut it into long strips, and dice the tomato into 1 cm pieces. The cooking is fast, so have everything ready before you start.

  2. Heat a 26 cm frying pan on high heat for about a minute, add the oil, and when it shimmers lay the beef in a single layer. If the size shows ×2, sear in two batches. Leave it untouched for the first minute, then turn the cubes and sear for in total until deep brown outside. It can still be pink inside. Move the beef to a plate.

    Add in this stepVegetable oil 1½ tbspBeef sirloin or rump (lean) 300 g

    high heat

  3. Turn down to medium heat, add about two-thirds of the niter kibbeh and the onion to the same pan and cook for , until the onion is soft and just golden at the edges. Use the onion's moisture to scrape up the browned bits from the beef; that's flavour.

    Add in this stepNiter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter) or ghee 1 tbspRed onion 110 g

    medium heat

  4. Add the garlic, chilli, rosemary and tomato and cook on medium heat for , until the tomato softens slightly and the garlic smells fragrant.

    Add in this stepGarlic cloves 2Jalapeño or other green chilli 1Fresh rosemary sprigs 1Tomato 1

    medium heat

  5. Return the beef and its juices to the pan with the remaining niter kibbeh, the salt and pepper, and toss quickly on high heat for . Pale pink inside is tender and medium; cook longer for well done, but don't overdo it or the beef turns tough. Fish out the rosemary stalks.

    Add in this stepNiter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced butter) or ghee ½ tbspSalt ½ tspBlack pepper ¼ tsp

    high heat

  6. Spread the injera on a plate and pile the tibs in the middle. Tear off pieces of injera and use them to pick up the beef with your hand. Without injera, serve it with rice or any flatbread.

    Add in this stepInjera (teff flatbread) or rice 2

Cook's tip

A pan that isn't hot enough, or too much beef at once, makes the meat leak juice and boil. No niter kibbeh? Warm ghee or butter with a little grated garlic and ginger for a minute. For heat, serve berbere or mitmita in a small dish on the side.

Cooking it at camp

A heavy cast-iron pan on a camping stove sears even better than at home. Cube the beef at home and keep it cold in the cooler; pre-slice the onion and chilli into a zip bag and it's ready in 10 minutes on site. Wind steals heat, so use a windshield and sear in smaller batches.