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Sega Wat

A spicy Ethiopian beef stew simmered with onions, garlic, berbere, tomato paste, and spices.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,698 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Sega Wat

Time1.5–2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.

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

  3. Add the minced garlic to the pot and sauté for an additional minute until fragrant.

  4. Stir in the berbere spice blend, tomato paste, ground paprika, ground cumin, ground turmeric, salt, and black pepper. Mix well to combine the spices with the onions and garlic.

Cook the stew

  1. Add the beef to the pot and stir to coat it with the spice mixture. Cook the beef for a few minutes until it is browned on all sides.

  2. Pour in the beef broth or water, ensuring that the beef is fully submerged in the liquid.

  3. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  4. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for about 1.5–2 hours, or until the beef is tender and the flavors have melded together. Stir occasionally and add more liquid if needed to maintain the desired consistency.

  5. Taste the stew and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the pot from the heat and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

  2. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley or cilantro.

  3. Serve hot with injera or bread, and savor the bold and spicy flavors of this traditional Ethiopian beef stew.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

471Calories
30 gProtein
30 gFat
21 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

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. Cumin + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,698 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

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

  4. Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Becomes tender through long simmering, and its fats and juices enrich the stew.
Onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, forming the body and flavor base of the stew.
Berbere spice blend
Supplies the main warm, spicy aroma and heat that define this dish.
Tomato paste
Adds concentrated acidity and savory depth, and helps thicken the sauce.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows as it cooks into the sauce.
Beef broth
Provides the cooking liquid that gently braises the beef and builds the sauce.

The step that matters

Simmering the beef low and covered. Beef is tough collagen-rich muscle. Gentle, steady simmering over 1.5 to 2 hours breaks down connective tissue into tender meat, while a rolling boil toughens and dries it. Stirring occasionally and adding liquid keeps the sauce from scorching or thickening too much.

Swap the clove

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, garlic, beef, tomato, cumin, 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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