Goat Derek Tibs – Ethiopian Dry-Fried Goat

You’ve spent the morning in the Entoto Hills above Addis Ababa, where the city spreads out below the mountains and eucalyptus-covered slopes. By afternoon, you make your way back down into the busy streets of the capital, passing minibuses, cafés, little shops, and restaurants beginning to fill for lunch.

You stop when the smell of browned meat, butter, rosemary, and hot chile drifts from an open doorway.

Inside, a cook is working over a wide black pan set over a fierce flame.

There is no pot of sauce simmering nearby.

Instead, cubes of goat hit the hot pan with an immediate hiss. The cook leaves them alone just long enough for the bottoms to develop a dark crust, then tosses them and lets another side brown.

A spoonful of fragrant niter kibbeh—Ethiopia’s spiced clarified butter—goes into the pan, followed by thick slices of onion, garlic, fresh green chile, and sprigs of rosemary.

Everything sizzles.

Unlike the long-simmered Ethiopian wots, this meat never becomes a stew. The heat stays high and the moisture is allowed to cook away until the goat is deeply browned around the edges and some pieces become almost crisp.

This is Derek Tibs, the dry-fried version of Ethiopia’s famous tibs.

Beef and lamb are common, but goat is also traditionally used. What distinguishes derek tibs is the relatively dry finish: the meat is seared rather than surrounded by gravy, with the flavor coming from browned goat, niter kibbeh, onion, green chile, and rosemary.

Just before serving, the cook transfers the sizzling meat to a hot clay dish.

A large piece of injera arrives alongside it with a small bowl of dark-red awaze chile sauce.

You tear off a piece of the sour, spongy bread, wrap it around a browned piece of goat and a slice of chile, and dip the whole thing into the awaze.

After so many slow-cooked goat dishes on your journey, this one is completely different.

The goat tastes of fire.

Goat Derek Tibs

Ethiopian Dry-Fried Goat

Serves 5–6

Ingredients

• 3 pounds tender goat meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil

• 3 tablespoons niter kibbeh

• 1 large red onion, cut into thick slices or wedges

• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated

• 2–3 jalapeños or other fresh green chiles, sliced

• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

• 1–1½ teaspoons salt, to taste

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• ½–1 teaspoon berbere, optional

To Serve

• injera

• awaze sauce

• additional fresh green chiles, if desired

Choosing the Goat

Derek tibs cooks quickly over very high heat, so choose a relatively tender cut.

Good choices include:

• leg

• loin

• tender shoulder meat from a young goat

Trim away heavy connective tissue, but leave a little fat on the meat. Small amounts of goat fat help the pieces brown and stay juicy.

Cut the meat into fairly even 1-inch cubes.

Before cooking, pat the goat very dry with paper towels.

This is important. Wet meat will steam instead of developing the browned edges that characterize derek tibs.

Heat the Pan

Use a large cast-iron skillet, carbon-steel pan, or other heavy pan.

Place it over high heat and let it become extremely hot.

Add just enough neutral oil to lightly coat the surface.

The pan should be hot enough that the goat begins sizzling immediately when it touches the surface.

Sear the Goat

Do not crowd the pan.

Working in two or three batches, arrange the goat in a single layer.

Leave it undisturbed for about 1½–2 minutes so a browned crust develops.

Turn the pieces and brown another side.

Transfer each browned batch to a plate.

The meat does not have to be completely cooked at this stage.

Crowding the pan is one of the easiest ways to turn derek tibs into steamed goat instead of dry-fried goat.

Add the Niter Kibbeh

Return all of the goat to the hot skillet.

Add the niter kibbeh.

As it melts, toss the goat through the fragrant butter.

Niter kibbeh is clarified butter infused with Ethiopian spices and aromatics and gives tibs much of its characteristic flavor.

Look for it at an Ethiopian or East African grocery store.

If you cannot find it, plain ghee can be substituted, although the finished flavor will be less distinctly Ethiopian.

Add the Onion and Aromatics

Add the onion, garlic, ginger, green chiles, and rosemary.

Continue cooking over high heat for about 4–6 minutes.

Toss the mixture frequently.

The onions should soften while still retaining some texture, and some edges should become browned or lightly charred.

The rosemary will perfume the hot butter and goat as everything fries together.

Dry-Fry the Tibs

Season with salt and black pepper.

Add a small amount of berbere if you want additional chile and spice flavor.

Continue frying for another 3–5 minutes.

Any moisture released by the onions or goat should evaporate.

The finished meat should be:

• deeply browned

• lightly crisp around some edges

• moist inside

• coated in niter kibbeh

• almost completely free of loose sauce

That dry, concentrated finish is what distinguishes derek tibs from wetter styles such as awaze tibs.

For Mature Goat

If you are using a mature goat with tougher shoulder or leg meat, the traditional quick-fry method may not be enough to make it tender.

Place the cubed goat in a covered pot with about 1 cup water and a little salt.

Simmer gently until the meat is almost tender.

Drain it thoroughly.

Spread the pieces on a tray and let their surfaces dry completely.

Then proceed with the high-heat searing method.

This allows you to get tender goat while still finishing the dish with the dry, browned character of derek tibs.

What Is Berbere?

Berbere is a traditional Ethiopian spice blend made primarily from dried red chiles combined with warm spices such as ginger, garlic, fenugreek, coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and black pepper.

The exact mixture varies by family and region, but the flavor is typically hot, earthy, aromatic, and slightly sweet.

Look for berbere at Ethiopian, East African, or international grocery stores. It is also widely available online.

In Derek Tibs, only a small amount is needed, but berbere is especially important in awaze, the spicy red sauce traditionally served alongside the meat.

Quick Awaze Sauce

Awaze is commonly served beside tibs for dipping.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons berbere

• ¼ cup tej, Ethiopian honey wine

If You Don't Have Tej

Use:

• ¼ cup dry white or red wine

• ½ teaspoon honey

Make the Awaze

Whisk the berbere and tej together until smooth.

The sauce should be thin enough to dip or drizzle but much thicker than broth.

Add a little more tej or water if necessary.

Serve it on the side rather than pouring it over the derek tibs. Keeping the sauce separate allows the meat to retain its characteristic dry, crisp finish.

To Serve

Spread a large piece of injera over a platter.

Pile the hot derek tibs over part of the injera, or serve the meat separately in a hot skillet or clay serving dish.

Serve with:

• injera

• awaze

• fresh green chiles

• sliced tomato and onion salad, if desired

Tear off a piece of injera with your right hand, use it to pick up a piece of goat and onion, and add a little awaze if you want more heat.

The finished Goat Derek Tibs should be very different from a curry or stew: deeply browned, sizzling goat with almost no gravy, fragrant with niter kibbeh and fresh rosemary and punctuated by sweet onion and hot green chile.