Fusion Shiro Wat! Each spoonful delivers a creamy, velvety texture and a nourishing punch of plant-based protein, making it both nutritious and approachable.
This Fusion Shiro Wat brings together the best of Ethiopian and Indian flavors into one comforting, weeknight-friendly dish. Easy to whip up and deeply satisfying, it’s the kind of cozy dinner that makes everyday meals feel special. The dish balances warming Indian spices—think cumin, coriander, and curry—with the earthy, fragrant notes of Ethiopian shiro from chickpea flour, garlic, and ginger. Whether you’re meal-prepping for the week or seeking a quick dinner idea, this fusion shiro wat shines as a versatile, crowd-pleasing option that pairs beautifully with warm flatbreads, injera, or steamed rice.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
We devoured this easy dish right up, and Yasmeen absolutely loved it. The warming spices meets silky richness, creating a memorable fusion that’s both comforting and adventurous.
Yasmeen and Mom enjoyed it with a hint of tahini for a creamy, nutty finish, while a few others preferred enjoying it without tahini.
If you’re chasing a warming, satisfying dinner that highlights both Ethiopian and Indian flavors, you gotta give this one a try—your taste buds will thank you.
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Fusion Shiro Wat is an easy and delicious fusion of Ethiopian and Indian cuisines, perfect comfort food for everyday dinner meals. Filled with warming Indian and Ethiopian spices, chickpeas, and chickpea flour, this dish is sure to be a nutritious and satisfying meal.
- Fusion: The Ethiopian dish Shiro Wat is a stew primarily made with chickpea flour and Berbere spices. The Indian influence is made with curry spices and coconut milk. Berbere spice and curry have many of the same warming spices. While the Indian cuisine does use chickpea flour extensively, our goal here was to create a Shiro Wat but instead of using Berbere spices, we used curry powder.
- Water and Canned Light Coconut Milk: You may wish to start on the low end and build with your favorite flavors. If too spicy, use more coconut milk and less water. If you enjoy the warming heat spices, then use more water and less coconut milk. The coconut milk tempers the heat.
- Tahini: The tahini is used to temper the acidity from some of the spices. We had family members who loved it, while others felt it wasn’t needed. We’ve made it optional.
- Texture: This dish has a porridge-like consistency with some texture from the chopped chickpeas. It is perfect for using naan, injera, pita, lavash, or other flatbreads to scoop as a spoon
- Consistency: This dish has a porridge-like consistency. Often times after it has sat in the refrigerator (if there are leftovers), it may thicken up. You can add some water to loosen it up back into a porridge-like consistency when reheated, if needed.
- Drain and Rinse the Petite Diced Tomatoes: Be sure to drain and rinse the petitie diced tomatoes really well. The purpose it to only have the diced tomatoes and not any of the tomato juice.
- Food Processor Ingredients: The purpose of finely mincing the food processor ingredients is to create a smooth texture, then coupling the smooth texture with the rough chopped chickpeas creates a fantastic mouthfeel.
- Rough Chop the Can of Chickpeas: We loved slightly chopping the chickpeas. We put the drained and rinsed chickpeas into the food process and processed for a count of 4 (not 4 seconds, but rather a quick count of 4), then stopped. You will have a combination of chopped and whole chickpeas. You can also place them onto a chopping board and give them a rough chop if you wish. Note: You do not need to clean the food processor in between chopping the vegetables (Food Processor Ingredients) and chopping the chickpeas.
- Chickpea Flour (also known as Garbanzo Bean Flour): Chickpea flour is known as garbanzo bean flour, gram flour, and besan flour. It is made from dried chickpeas. It works wonderfully in this dish.
- Chickpea Flour Substitutions: We have no substitutions to offer as the chickpea flour is a major flavor component in this dish. Do not
- Can I make my own Chickpea Flour: Yes, absolutely. Follow this YouTube Video on How to Make Your Own Chickpea Flour. Chickpea flour is fairly inexpensive, see list of Pantry Product Used in this Recipe below for the brand we used.
- Curry Powders: All curry powders are not the same. There are tons of curry options and blends. Use your favorite curry blend. Each blend tends to accent different spices within the blend. We have found that some blends are heavy with turmeric and tend to be slightly acidic on the backend of the palate and others may contain a lot of heat. Feel free to adjust spices based upon the curry blend selected.
- Spices: Feel free to ramp up the spices if you wish to suit your own personal preference.
- White or Red Onion: We used a large white onion. Feel free to substitute with a large red onion if you wish.
- Amount of Sea Salt: Our family was completely divided over the amount of sea salt needed to properly flavor this dish. For most palates, we felt 1 teaspoon worked well.
- Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered air-tight container.
This dish freezes well; however, it will get a tiny bit weepy, but nothing a thorough stirring can’t fix.
Pantry Products:
- Chickpea/Garbanzo Bean Flour: We used Bobs Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour. Feel free to use your favorite chickpea/garbanzo bean flour.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Equipment:
- Food processor
- Large skillet
If you try this flavorful dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Fusion Shiro Wat (Ethiopian and Indian)
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 45 Minutes
- Yield: 4 Cups 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Ethiopian, Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Fusion Shiro Wat brings together the best of Ethiopian and Indian flavors into one comforting, weeknight-friendly dish.
Ingredients
Food Processor Ingredients:
- 1 large white (or red) onion, chunked *
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 – [ 14.5 oz. can ] petite diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed *
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin (+/-)
- 1 Tablespoon curry powder (+/-) *
- ¼ teaspoon coriander (+/-)
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika (+/-)
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-)
Other Ingredients:
- 1 – [ 15 oz. can ] chickpeas, drained and rinsed, rough chop *
- ½ cup chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour) *
- ¾ to 1 ¼ cups water *
- 1 to 1 ¼ cups light coconut milk (from can) *
- 2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon tahini (optional) *
- 2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon lime juice
Optional Ingredients:
- Sprinkle chopped fresh cilantro
Serving Ideas:
- Steamed rice
- Naan, injera, lavash, pita, or flatbread
Instructions
- Place all the Spice/Herb Ingredients into a small bowl, whisk well, set aside.
- Place all the Food Processor Ingredients into a food processor, process until all the ingredients are finely minced and resemble a finely blended soupy-textured type mixture.
- Place the minced food processor mixture into a large skillet and sauté on medium-high until most of the liquids start to evaporate (approximately 7 to 9 minutes), then add the Spice/Herb Mix and chopped chickpeas, stir well to thoroughly mix in the spices throughout the mixture. Continue to sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Then add the chickpea flour to the skillet and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
- Next add the water, light coconut milk, and tahini, stir well to thoroughly mix, continue to cook until thickened. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- Stir in the lime juice, cook for several minutes.
- Remove from the stove, cover, and allow to sit for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
- After 10 minutes, stir well, top with chopped fresh cilantro, then serve with naan, injera, lavash, pita or flatbread, and/or steamed rice.
Notes
Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Serving: 4 (makes 4 cups)
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