🇹 Ethiopian · Street Food & Snacks
🍽️ Ethiopian Street Food Platter
የጎዳና ምግብ ሳህን — Ye-Godana Mgib Sahin
Ethiopian Street Food Platter — Sambusa (ETH161), Dabo Kolo (ETH162), Berbere Chicken Wings (ETH189), Roasted Chickpeas (ETH163), Spiced Peanuts (ETH164), Sesame Brittle (ETH174), and Silsi with Awaze for dipping. The complete Ethiopian street food experience assembled as a sharing platter.
The Ethiopian Street Food Platter brings together the full range of Ethiopian street food onto one sharing board — the fried, the roasted, the sweet, the savoury, and all the condiments that make them complete. It is Ethiopia's street food culture translated to the party and restaurant format.
Ingredients
Equipment: Multiple pans, Large sharing board
Assemble from individual recipes:
- Lentil Sambusa — 8 pieces
- Dabo Kolo — 1 cup
- Berbere Chicken Wings — 12 pieces
- Roasted Chickpeas — ½ cup
- Spiced Roasted Peanuts — ½ cup
- Sesame Brittle — 8 pieces
Dips and Condiments
- Silsi
- Awaze
- Green Chilli Paste
Method
- Prepare ahead: Dabo Kolo (keeps weeks), roasted chickpeas and peanuts (keeps weeks), sesame brittle (keeps weeks).
- Day of: marinate chicken wings (2 hours minimum).
- Hour before: make sambusa and silsi.
- 30 minutes before: grill chicken wings.
- Immediately before serving: fry sambusa.
- Arrange on a large board: hot items in the centre, snacks around, dips in small bowls.
Chef Tips
- The dry snacks can all be made well in advance — only the sambusa and wings need day-of preparation.
- Serve the sambusa the instant they come out of the oil.
- Arrange by texture: crispy items together, snacks together, sweet together.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Serving sambusa cold — must be immediate.
The Science
See individual recipes.
Nutrition (per serving)
Health Benefits
- The variety of the platter provides protein (sambusa, wings, chickpeas), healthy fats (peanuts, sesame), and complex carbohydrate (dabo kolo) — a surprisingly nutritionally balanced spread.
Cultural Note
The Ethiopian Street Food Platter is a celebration of the country's most democratic food tradition — the food that is available to everyone, that is eaten standing at stalls, that fuels the energy of Ethiopian market life. To share this platter is to share the experience of Ethiopian street culture.
Storage & Serving
Storage: Dry items keep weeks. Fresh items: eat immediately.
Reheating: Oven for wings and sambusa.
Serve with: With tej (ETH095), With tella (Ethiopian beer), At Ethiopian celebrations and parties