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Firfir

A spicy Ethiopian dish of scrambled eggs cooked with onions, tomatoes, garlic, green chilies, berbere, and torn injera.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Firfir

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped onions to the pan and sauté until they become translucent and slightly browned.

  3. Stir in the minced garlic and chopped green chilies, and sauté for an additional minute until fragrant.

  4. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and cook until they begin to soften.

Cook the eggs

  1. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl.

  2. Add the berbere spice blend, paprika, turmeric, and salt to the eggs and mix well.

  3. Push the sautéed vegetables to one side of the pan, creating a space for the eggs.

  4. Pour the beaten eggs into the empty space in the pan and scramble them with a wooden spoon or spatula until they are fully cooked.

  5. Mix the scrambled eggs with the sautéed vegetables in the pan.

Add the injera and serve

  1. Tear the pieces of injera into small bite-sized pieces.

  2. Add the torn injera to the pan and stir well to combine all ingredients.

  3. Cook for a few more minutes, allowing the injera to absorb the flavors and soften slightly.

  4. Remove the pan from heat.

  5. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.

  6. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

284Calories
9 gProtein
20 gFat
19 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Clove + turmerictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,876 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set when scrambled, binding the pan mixture together and giving it body.
Injera
Soaks up the seasoned oil and egg, giving the dish its soft, absorbent texture.
Onion
Softens and browns, adding sweetness and a savory base for the dish.
Tomatoes
Break down into moisture and acidity that balance the spices and coat the eggs.
Berbere spice blend
Provides the warm, chili-based aroma and heat that defines the dish.

The step that matters

Scrambling the eggs. Eggs cooked over medium heat and stirred gently set into soft curds; cooking them too hot or too long makes them dry and rubbery, so they should be removed while still slightly glossy.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, tomato, garlic, egg, turmeric):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Corianderfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, tomato, garlic, egg, turmeric. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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