Dawit and I love doro wat. Unsupervised, we can do some serious damage to single recipe in one sitting. Ideally I would temper my indulgence with extra berbere. Heat slows me down. But it doesn't seem right light up my 2-year-old for the sake of portion control. Regardless, I do struggle over how much berbere to use. Once I made it according to the recipe (1/4 cup) for a dinner party of ET food newbies. They all loved it, but I had to hand out do-rags so they could mop their brows. Now I cut the berbere in half (~2T) for guests.
Today I cut it in half again hoping both my kids could handle it. It had a slight bite, but not enough, I guessed, to bring on tears. (Note: I'm not always the best judge of temperature -- food or bath.) So I dished up mostly chicken without the sauce, then turned to fix my own plate. Next thing I know Caroline's running for the bathroom hollering, "Mama, the chicken's spicy. I need water." So I fix her up with some milk and injera and turn to check on Dawit. Not only had he finished all his chicken, he's holding up his plate saying, "More! More chicken." So I transfer Caroline's chicken to his plate and give him a high five. My little man is tough.
Does anyone need some berbere? At this rate, I'll have enough to send some with Dawit to college.
