Ethiopian Tea Spice Mix

A few years ago, my Ethiopian friend S showed me how to make a remarkable spice mix. It’s so simple, and also so versatile. Although its main purpose is as a tea mix, (similar to Bengal spice, except for the ginger), it can also be used to flavor coffee. Lately I’ve used it successfully to make a spiced coffee cake and as a steak rub.

The recipe itself is super simple. To make 1 spice jar (about 100ml) here’s what you do:

Ingredients:

cinamon 7g

whole cardamom 10g

cloves 10g

Method

I use a dedicated coffee grinder for grinding spices, so just throw these 3 ingredients in, grind them up and voila!

What can you do with it?

• Make a tea: approximately 1 tsp per mug. Top up with boiling water and enjoy. If you want to replicate Bengal Spice add ½ tsp of dried ginger.
• Flavor your coffee: If using a crema, bodum or espresso, add ½ tsp to the single serve coffee you are making.
• Meat rub: add salt (weigh the meat and divide by 60 to determine how much salt to use), pepper and the spice mix so it is lightly covering the meat.
• Spice cake: I have not worked out the precise measurements. Depending on your cake, add approximately 1/2 tsp per egg used in the recipe to the dry ingredients. Try a small cake first and adjust your spice mix to your taste.
• Cookies: I haven’t tried these yet, but a similar amount would apply.
• Vegetable Casserole: One of the issues some have with Ethiopian cuisine is its dependency on Berbere and Nitr Qibe – the spiced butter. Using this mix as the key flavoring in a vegetable dish provides a wonderful compliment to your other Ethiopian dishes. It would likewise compliment any of the tropical world cuisines that rely on strong spicing.