This
was the first time I was having Ethiopian food and I must say I was mighty
impressed in the variety. Like their site says “come taste and enjoy”
Our friends
took us to this place named Walia in
San Jose, California. Even though we were late for lunch (as per the normal
lunch time) I was surprised that we were served with some excellent and tasty
food.
The
guys who run the place were warm, friendly and informative.
As we
waited for the main course to arrive nursing our drinks, I was observing the ambiance.
I liked
the drawings that adorned the walls.
The
Injera with mixed vegetables was what we ordered. It comes in a very big plate
which was shared among five of us. The items that went into the plate were:
Vegetarian:
Misir
Wot (red lentils)
Alicha
Wot (split yellow peas)
Shiro
(chick peas)
Gomen
(collard greens)
Atkilit
Wot (cabbage carrot)
As they
added the items to the plate our eyes widened.
Poultry:
House Doro
Wot (chicken stew)
Lamb:
Yebeg tibs
(Lamb tibs)
The Injera
is made by mixing Teff flour with water and allowing it to ferment for several
days. It is served in rolls. The brown
coloured base that you see in the big plate is also Injera.
The Injera rolls kept coming and we polished them quick and clean.
The Injera rolls kept coming and we polished them quick and clean.
The
five of us made sure that we did justice to the food and this was what was left
in the plate.
Joseph was kind enough to give me the list of delicious items that was spread out (reproduced above)
A good place to have food and if I ever visit San Jose again, my first stop will be Walia.
A good place to have food and if I ever visit San Jose again, my first stop will be Walia.
Love this .You have captured it all so well .cindy
ReplyDeleteI've heard of eating that way but I think it would be kind of awkward to all be grabbing food off the same plate. Are you in California for a holiday?
ReplyDeleteYep was there for 3 weeks and am back in India now.
DeleteLooks yum! The Injera rolls look a little like appam.
ReplyDeleteYou are about an hour north of me...enjoy your travels and tell me if you come south...
ReplyDeleteOh that was pretty close Jeannette. We did not go south but flew to Vegas for a few days. Back in India now.
DeleteWhat a trip! and your chronicles of it are fun too...We would have been glad to shoe you aroundehere, but it seems like many wonderful places opened up to you.
DeleteWow.. indeed nice sketches on the wall!
ReplyDeletewww.volatilespirits.com
Hello. . . what a delicious meal. I've never eaten Ethiopian food and now if I find a restaurant I'll go in and order. Also, thank you for taking those photographs of the evocative drawings on the wall. I can see why you'd return to this restaurant. Peace.
ReplyDeleteI loved Ethiopian food the first time I had it. I remember thinking I was having Ethiopian Dosa and Sambhar due to similar taste :)
ReplyDeleteIt's been many years since I've eaten Ethiopian food. I should try it again, as my taste buds and sense of adventure has matured.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoyed your visit here. Business, pleasure, or both? How often do you visit the US?
Thanks for sharing your meal. It plants a seed for your readers to experiment with different foods; at least the ones who are reluctant. :)
I love the drawings, too. I've always thought Ethiopians to be very attractive.
The drawings are lovely. And I'm so excited to hear they were serving collard greens...I love collard greens!
ReplyDeleteHope all is well with you and yours. :)
Fascinating account.
ReplyDeletevow that was a very delicious account.. must try out this cuisine sometime...
ReplyDeleteI've not had Ethiopian cuisine but I've had Zambian and Malawian cuisine. This sounds quite interesting too. Liked reading the details you've mentioned here. Although I am not an expert on art, I've always enjoyed African art forms because of an inherent innocence, beauty and lack of pretentiousness. Your post with these sketches reminded me of my days in Africa. Brought back memories. Looking forward to more posts like these.
ReplyDeleteVery tempting. Wish I could reach out to that plate sitting here in Bangalore.
ReplyDeleteA good bait to make that trip!
Sunny
This entry has made me really hungry....
ReplyDeleteThe dish looked very yumm..
ReplyDelete