This fundamental Ethiopian red chili dip, awaze, is so delicious and easy to make you’ll start to use it in everything! Try this traditional awaze recipe today.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how to make berbere, an Ethiopian spice mix that’s used nearly every day in our traditional home cooking. The recipe I’m excited to share today helps prove this point! One of the easiest uses of berbere is to make awaze, a citrusy and tangy red chili dip with a little spice.

Traditionally, awaze is made for special occasions like weddings and served with raw meat (many consider gored gored - cubed raw meat with dipping sauce - an unofficial national dish in Ethiopia that no celebration is complete without.) Personally, I don’t care for raw meat, but there are many other delicious ways to bring this traditional sauce into your cooking. On its own, you can use awaze as a dip for your favorite fresh vegetables or as a flavor boost to a sandwich or wrap similar to how you might add hot sauce. You can also substitute awaze for berbere in stews and stir fries (or drizzle over the top after cooking). For example, if you like the beef tibs recipe from last week, try using awaze instead of the plain berbere. This substitution is quite common and the dish is so popular in restaurants that the dish has claimed its own name: Awaze tibs. The extra ingredients in the awaze will elevate the richness and flavor of whatever stew or stir fry you add it to.

Like many Ethiopian sauces, different households and restaurants use slightly different ingredients and proportions based on their preferences. Below is my go-to recipe, but it’s truly customizable.

Recipe for Awaze - Ethiopian Chili Dip

Ingredients:

¼ cup berbere

½ tablespoon ground black cardamom​

⅛ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons red wine

3 tablespoons warm water

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients until you get a smooth consistency.

Yield: about ½ cup of Ethiopian chili dip

Tip:

A more traditional awaze recipe will use tej (honey wine) as the alcoholic liquid or areka (a strong alcoholic drink similar to gin). I only make awaze with red wine, but you could also try white wine or one of these other stronger substitutes.

Note:

Store your awaze chili dip in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Offer:

Want to try the recipe but having a hard time creating your own berbere? We’ll soon be offering a pre-made berbere spice blend in our store. Sign up for our newsletter to find out when it’s available. You’ll also receive a coupon, even more tasty recipes, and helpful tips!

A little about me

Are you interested learning about cooking Ethiopian food? if so, I would love to share with you some of the Ethiopian dishes I cook at home. My name is Eleni. I was born and raised in Ethiopia. I came to the United States about 19 years ago. I live with my husband and two kids (ages 10 and 12) in the beautiful state of Oregon, near Portland. I am a caterer, food instructor and a farmer’s market vendor – and everything I do is exclusively related to Ethiopian food. Now I’ve created this blog to share recipes, tips, and ingredients to make it easy for you to prepare Ethiopian food at home.