Berbere: Aromatic Ethiopian Spice Blend
This flavorful, aromatic seasoning blend says a lot about the cook who mixes it. I regard this spice mixture less as a formula and more as a way to express myself. I start mine with plenty of dried chili pepper, as is traditional, but then I add a healthy dose of korarima, because I love the nutty, herbal notes it adds. My mother’s berbere was heavy on serrano pepper, basil, and tiny nigella seeds, infusing her cooking with a signature spicy bite. While I welcome the grow-ing number of grocery stores that carry berbere in the spice section, I find that many of them overdo it on the paprika and cumin, giving food a much flatter taste. Feel free to use my recipe as a starting point for yours, adding more of any flavors you want to emphasize, while decreasing or omitting any you may dislike.
Berbere: Aromatic Ethiopian Spice Blend
Ingredients
- 1 cup paprika
- ½ cup cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons Ground Roasted Korarima recipe follows or ground cardamom
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
- 1½ teaspoons ground cloves
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1½ teaspoons ground fenugreek
Instructions
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In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together and transfer to an airtight jar.
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Store at room temperature for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
From GURSHA: Timeless Recipes for Modern Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem, and Beyond © 2025 by Tevletz Barhany-John. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Date: April 21, 2025
