The Sacred Ethiopian Bread That Traveled 500 Miles by Foot and Horse

Shared by Beejhy Barhany

Recipe Roots: Tigray Region, Ethiopia > Khartoum, Sudan > Pardes Hana, Israel > Ashkelon > Kibbutz Alumim > New York City 

“The dabo has been traveling with us throughout all our journey, our life, and it’s still here in New York,” Beejhy Barhany, the chef and owner of Tsion Cafe in Harlem, says. She’s speaking of a simply-prepared bread, traditionally served in the Ethiopian Jewish community for Shabbat and celebrations. “It has a delicious smell,” Beejhy adds, one that connects her to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia where she lived until she was five years old. 

Left to right: Beejhy’s grandmother and Beejhy with her aunt and cousin in Sudan in 1983.

Her aunts, mom, and grandmother would start sifting the flour on Thursdays, making sure they had enough to bake not only for their family, but for those in need in their community. On Fridays evenings, a kess, or Jewish religious leader, would ring a bell to announce the arrival of the Sabbath and families would head to the synagogue with their dabos in tow. 

After the service, the kess would bless the loaves and cut off a portion to remain in the synagogue for those in need. “Ethiopian food [and] culture is all about sharing and eating together,” Beejhy explains. “That’s the culture and the mentality that I come from.” The remainder of the dabo was taken home for dinner and served alongside doro wat, a traditional chicken stew, collard greens, other vegetables and sometimes messer wot, a red lentil stew laden with berbere, a spice mix made with cardamom, cloves, chile, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and more. 

In 1980, driven largely by Zionism, Beejhy, her family, and many members of their community started a long journey by land to Sudan. At the time, leaving Ethiopia was forbidden, so they moved largely in secret, walking and traveling by horse throughout the night and camping during the day, stopping at other Jewish villages so officials wouldn’t notice the migration. “We continued from one village to the next. This is how we managed to eventually arrive in Sudan,” she says. 

The three month journey was treacherous. At times there was little or no water and the community had to dig to find a water source. They also encountered robbers once or twice. “People almost died,” on the journey, Beejhy says. Still, the community found time for devotion. “In the midst of all of that, they still...observed the Shabbat and blessed on the dabo — nonetheless in the middle of nowhere in the desert.” 

When they finally reached Sudan, though, they were stuck. “Israel didn’t want to be involved in bringing Black Jews to Israel,” she explains. She waited with her family for three years to enter Israel and through that time, there was still dabo for Shabbat. The custom continued in Israel as Beejhy’s family settled into their new country, first living in an absorption center in Pardes Hanna, between Haifa and Tel Aviv. Despite the extraordinary challenges of moving and descrimination they faced in Israel, Beejhy says her parents felt the journey was worthwhile to be in the land of their forefathers.

As a teenager, Beejhy wanted to work that land and immerse herself in a community of Jews from the greater diaspora who had returned to Israel. She moved to a Kibbutz Alumim, near Gaza, with teens from places like England, Tunisia, Morocco. Together, they grew carrots and jojoba plants and milked cows. And, on a day when all the kids were asked to share their culture, Beejhy baked dabo. 

The long journey of Beejhy’s dabo finally concluded in New York where she moved shortly after her Israeli army service. “I fell in love with New York, the diversity, the melting pot of different ethnic groups,” she says. It’s here that she and friends started the Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation. “When I first came to the U.S., [there was little] knowledge of Ethiopian Jews…. When you go to a synagogue, they will think that you are the nanny or the caretaker, you couldn’t be a Jew who was Black in synagogue,” Beejhy explains. Her restaurant Tsion Cafe and the foundation are aimed at celebrating the diversity and promoting inclusion within the Jewish world. 

“I wanted to create a place where everybody is welcome if they want to experience Ethiopian food, but not only that, cause I’m not only Ethiopian; I have multiple identities. I’m Ethiopian, I’m Israeli, now I’m a New Yorker, so I wanted to incorporate all of those beautiful things and celebrate them in one venue in Harlem,” she says. And when there are Shabbat meals at the restaurant or holidays in Beejhy’s home, there’s always dabo.

Dabo

Makes: 1 loaf
Total Time: 20 minutes active + 3 hours inactive

Ingredients
1 to 1 ¼ cups warm water, divided
2 ¼ teaspoons (1 packet) dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour 
 ¼ cup sugar 
1 tablespoon Kosher salt 
1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 egg

Preparation
1. Place ½ cup of warm water into a small bowl, add the yeast and stir. Set aside for 20 minutes until the mixture foams up.

2. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, oil, and egg to the dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula. Gradually add ½ cup of warm water to the dough, and knead the dough by hand until it is combined, smooth, and soft, about 3 minutes. If needed to bring the dough together, add up to ¼ cup more water. Knead for about 6 minutes more, until the dough springs back on itself after poking it with your finger. 

3. Apply ½ teaspoon of oil to your hands, and shape the dough into a loose ball.

4. Place the dough into a large bowl and cover it with a towel. Set aside and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour. Knead the dough again by hand for just a moment to release any excess air. Transfer the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Put a towel on top of the dough and let it rise for another 40 minutes or until doubled in size. 

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

6. Transfer the baking sheet with the proofed dough into the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapping on it. 

7. Let the dabo cool for 15 to 20 minutes on the baking sheet and serve at room temperature.

Messer Wot (Red Lentil Stew)

Makes: 4 to 6 servings
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients
For the berbere spice mix:
1 cup hot paprika or chile powder
½ tablespoon ground cloves 
1 tablespoon ground cardamom 
1 tablespoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander  
1 tablespoon ground cumin
½ tablespoon ground cinnamon 
½ tablespoon ground nutmeg 
½ tablespoon ground fenugreek seeds
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt

For the stew:
2 red onions, peeled and quartered
2 yellow onions, peeled and quartered
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup neutral oil like grapeseed or vegetable oil
1 4½-ounce tomato paste tube
5 cups water, divided
2 tablespoons berbere spice mix
1½  teaspoons Kosher salt
2 cups red lentils, rinsed and drained

Preparation
1. Make the berbere spice mix: Sift all the spices into a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

2. Place the red and yellow onions, garlic, and ginger into a food processor. Process for about 3 to 5 minutes until combined into a fine paste.

3. Place a medium pot over medium heat and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger paste and saute, stirring occasionally, for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture has softened, reduced, and become light brown.

4. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the tomato paste, 1 cup of water, berbere spice, and salt. Cook for 15 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until the tomato paste starts to darken.

5. Add the lentils and 4 more cups of water into the pot. Stir well and increase the heat to high, bring the pot to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then, place a lid on the pot and reduce the heat to low. Continue cooking the stew on a gentle simmer, for about 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are soft and cooked through. 

6. Serve the stew hot with a side of dabo.

Chef’s Note: Store the leftover berbere spice mix in an airtight container for up to 6 months.