Kik Alicha (Split Pea Stew)

Kik Alicha is a delicious and nutritious Ethiopian food that is very simple to cook.

Ingredients:

Kik (Split Pea or Chana Daal in Hindi) 

Two medium onions and four garlic cloves.

Ethiopian Turmeric(Amharic: Urdh) [I still need to confirm if this is turmeric alone, I feel there are other ingredients.]

Recipe: 

Saute the chopped onions in olive oil(or sunflower oil) along with garlic. Cook until the onions are browned, about 10 minutes or so. Add the split peas(1 Cup, washed and drained) and two teaspoons of the turmeric, and one and a half teaspoon of salt(or according to taste). Add three cups of water and cook at medium flame. Keep stirring intermittently. You may have to add additional water along the cooking process, one to two cups of water. 

Kik Alicha: Enjoy with Injera

Reducing Cooking Time using Pressure Cooker

Add one cup of kik/chana dal along with two cups of water to a pressure cooker. I use Kuhn Rikon 5 liter pressure cooker. Raise the heat to maximum and bring to full pressure, second ring or 14 psi. Reduce the heat to low and set the timer to 3 minutes! It took me a while to come up with that time, the first few attempts at cooking for 10 minutes were a disaster and the kik turned into a mush. Stir the mixture and add it to the sauteed onions(the initial steps are the same as described above) and cook it for another few minutes. This step saves a considerable amount of cooking time and gives equally wonderful results.  
 

One cup kik and two cups of water

Ready in 3 minutes!