Buticha is a porridge-like dish made from chickpea flour, water, and spices — similar in texture to polenta. A fasting-day staple.
Buticha is a fasting-day dish made from chickpea flour (the same base as shiro). The flour is roasted, then cooked with water into a thick porridge. The dish belongs to the broad family of Ethiopian chickpea-flour preparations.
A smooth, golden, slightly grainy porridge with a nutty chickpea flavor. The spices (garlic, ginger, turmeric) are subtle; the texture is somewhere between polenta and mashed potatoes. Fried onions on top add crunch and sweetness.
Chickpea flour's starches gelatinize when cooked with water, creating a thick porridge. The flour must be roasted first (dry pan, 5-8 min) to remove the raw beany flavor and develop nutty notes through Maillard reactions.
Variations
Some add berbere for heat; the consistency varies from thin to thick; served with injera.
On the Palate
Where Buticha sits in the Ethiopian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
6 steps · 30 min active + 15 min waiting
- 15 min
Toast chickpea flour in a dry pan until fragrant (5 min).
Watch outToast the chickpea flour just until it smells nutty and turns a shade darker — stop before it browns, or it turns bitter.
- 25 min
Boil water with salt.
- 310 min
Whisk in the flour gradually; cook into a thick porridge.
Watch outWhisk the flour in a slow stream while stirring hard so no lumps form; the porridge is ready when it thickly coats the spoon.
- 45 min
Sauté onion and garlic in oil until golden.
- 52 min
Stir the onion mixture into the porridge.
- 61 min
Add turmeric, ginger; serve on injera.
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