Generally, in English Wot gets compared to a stew.
Wot can be made from meat, ground beans or lentils. “Long pepper” is a typical spice used in Wot, along with black pepper, cloves, nutmeg and turmeric.
Here are some of the better known types of Wot in the West:
- Dora wat: chicken and hard-boiled eggs in thick gravy made from chile (or chile powder such as bere bere), garlic and onion
- Duba wat: squash
- Kae Atar wot: green peas
- Kae Misr wot (Yemisir Wot) : red lentils
- Quwanta-Miser wot : Beef Jerky and split lentils
- Sega wat: lamb stew
- Shiro wot: chickpeas
- siga wat: beef cubes in thick gravy made from chile, garlic and onion
- Yasa wat: trout
- Yeater shiro wot: split-peas
- Yeatkilt wot: cabbage, carrot and potato
- Yebeg wot: lamb
- Yedinch wot: potatoes
- Yefesoleya wot: string beans
- Yimser wot: lentils
Cooking Tips
The most well-known version of Wot in the west is Dora wat, a chicken stew. It is made in the following manner (actual recipes are wide-spread on the Internet:): dice onion, brown slowly in the pan, then add some water and butter (some add butter at the start), to turn it into an onion paste. Add chile and garlic, adding water as needed so it does not get too dry. Add more water, then pieces of meat. Simmer uncovered. Season with spices. Add 1 peeled hard-boiled egg per serving, heat till the eggs are warmed. Serve with injera bread. [Pieces of meat should be pricked with a fork or have incisions made in them so that the sauce will penetrate them.]
Language Notes
“Kay wot” means stewed dishes in general.
Sources
Zibart, Eve. Break Bread at Meaza. Washington Post. 19 November 2004.