Gomen Be Siga — Ethiopian Collards with Beef
Beef seared hard and lifted straight out, greens cooked down in the spiced butter it leaves behind, and the two put back together at the last moment.
Why it works
Gomen be siga is normally a long braise, but the two halves want opposite treatment and splitting them is what brings it inside twenty minutes. Beef cut thin across the grain needs ninety seconds and no more, so it comes out of the pan while the greens go in. Shredding collards finely across the leaf gives all those cut edges a way to take up water fast, and they turn silky in five minutes rather than an hour. Berbere goes into hot fat before any liquid arrives, or it stays gritty and tastes only of heat. The flatbread is warmed in the dry pan before the ghee, so it stands in for injera and costs nothing to wash.
Method
- Put your widest frying pan over a medium heat, dry, and warm the flatbreads one at a time, 30 seconds a side, until they puff and freckle. Stack them in a tea towel to stay soft.
- Turn the heat to its highest and add 1 tbsp of the ghee. Sear the beef in two batches, 90 seconds a batch, until the outside is well browned and the centre is still pink but no longer translucent. Season and tip it onto a plate with any juices.
- Drop the heat to medium-high, add the rest of the ghee and fry the onion for 3 minutes, until translucent and catching at the edges.
- Add the garlic, ginger and berbere and stir for 45 seconds. The fat should turn brick red and the spice smell sweet and toasted rather than sharp.
- Pile in the greens with the tomatoes, water and salt. It will look like far too much; press it under a lid for 30 seconds and it collapses to a third. Cook uncovered 5 minutes, stirring twice, until the greens are dark and glossy, tender enough to cut with the side of a spoon, and the water has gone.
- Return the beef and its juices, toss for 1 minute so it warms without cooking further, and finish with a pinch more berbere. Serve from the pan with the warm flatbread torn up for scooping and lemon wedges to squeeze.
For the toddler
Take a few strips of beef out at step 2 as they come off the heat, before you season them, and a handful of shredded greens before the berbere goes in at step 4. Cook those greens down in a small pan with a little ghee, water and chopped tomato for five minutes. Berbere is chilli through and through and cannot be softened once it is in. Chop the beef finely and tear the flatbread small.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Lamb leg steak, cut the same way, takes the same 90 seconds a batch. Cavolo nero or spring greens stand in for the collards; chard needs only 3 minutes.
Buy the beef ready-cut as stir-fry strips and bagged shredded greens, and prep drops to two minutes.
A bowl of ayib, or cottage cheese loosened with lemon, to cool the berbere, and sliced tomato with green chilli.
Three days chilled, and better on day two once the greens have taken up the beef juices. Reheat hard and fast in the pan.