The name of the restaurant is derived from The Ethiopian Empire, which was historically known as Abyssinia, a nation that comprised the northern half of present-day Ethiopia.
Abyssinian is India’s first Ethiopian Fine Dine restaurant that serves traditional and authentic Ethiopian cuisine.
Ethiopian food is one of the most exciting cuisines in the world. Not only is the food extremely unique and extraordinarily flavorful, but the food culture that makes up Ethiopia is also something I found truly fascinating.
Even the way Ethiopian food is served, on a communal platter, is designed for sharing food with each other. Food is not meant to be eaten alone in the culture of Ethiopia. On my visit to Abyssinian, I learnt a tradition known as Gursha, where you hold the Injera bread in your left hand, tear a piece with your right and the first bite is to be fed to the person sitting to your right side as a blessing. Taking the time to feed your loved one, or a friend you really care about, that just has to be one of the greatest culinary traditions that still exists today, anywhere.
Apart from serving Messob – A Communal Platter, Abyssinian recently introduced an A La Carte menu for people coming in as a small group or a couple.
The food of Ethiopia is humble and nothing sorts of fancy. The food greatly represents the culture of Ethiopia and the values they live by. The main staple is the Injera Bread.
Injera is made from a grain known as teff, which is ground into flour, made into a batter, slightly fermented, and then fried on a heavy skillet into a giant circular pancake. The texture is soft and spongy and the flavor is lightly sour. However, Teff rice is difficult to procure in India hence, Injera at Abyssinian is made with Ragi.
Food in Ethiopia is served on a platter known as a Gebeta, a large circular, usually metal platter. First, a circle of injera is placed on the gebeta, then the different stews, curries, or vegetables, that you’ve ordered are placed on top of the injera. From a single dish to a mix of different dishes, everything is piled onto the plate of injera.
I enjoyed the food in the form of Baraka – a Messob platter with a mix of stews and curries atop the Injera bread.
A brief description of the elements in Baraka follows –
1. Mandassi –
Deepfried dumpling made with refined flour and served with Abi: a form of chutney made with coriander parsley and chilli. Definitely visiting again for the Abi!
2. Misir Wot –
Red lentils boiled and mashed, cooked with slightly fiery spices. The lentils are cooked with a few spoons of berbere spice powder to give them a nice redness in color, and cooked until tender, yet they still have some texture to them.
‘Wot’ is an Ethiopian word for Stew.
3. Yedinich Alicha –
The curry is made with potatoes and carrots. Yedinich Alicha or Dinich Alicha, is very similar to the Indian version of a potato vegetable preparation.
4. Fosolia –
A curry made with Carrots french beans with a base of mashed potatoes and turmeric.
5. Shiro Wot –
It’s basically a stew or curry made from ground dried chickpeas and various spices. The chickpeas give the stew a beautiful texture and nutty flavor with a consistency of thickened soup.
6. Timatim –
It is a non-spicy delightful tomato salad or Salate served on the side as a taste changer after eating spicy stews or curries with the Injera.
7. Ayib –
Also served to tone down the spiciness from the stews, Ayib means Cottage cheese in Ethiopian.
8. Mit Mita Ayib –
Mit Mita is a ground spice added to the shredded Cottage Cheese served as a variant of the regular Ayib.
9. Awaze –
Awaze is an Ethiopian chilli sauce made by combining mitmita spice and berbere spice with honey mead to make a paste. Usually served on the side for people who like extra spice in their food.
10. Inguday Tibs –
Mushrooms sauteed in Berbere spice and onions. A traditional spicy Ethiopian pan fried curry preparation served with Injera.
Apart from the stews and curries, I also tried,
1. Adengare Shorba –
A warm soup made with boiled kidney beans and carrots. Very light on the stomach and very soothing indeed.
2. Sambosa Lentile –
An Ethiopian version of our desi Samosa, the filling in sambosa is of red lentils (masoor).
The filling was a bit dry as we open the outer crust of Sambosa, but goes well with Abi.
3. Suf Fit Fit –
Suf Fit Fit is a Salad made with soaked Injera bread and raw capsicum and peppers. It serves as a light snack before you dive into a wholehearted meal.
4. Sweet Dumplings –
Made with fried semolina and flour, the dumplings were just too sweet for my palate.
5. Ethiopian Baklava –
Baklava is a traditional sweet preparation originating from the Middle East. The Ethiopian version substitutes the traditional almonds with walnuts and dry coconut making it a tad less sweeter than the middle eastern version.
The Baklava was a delight and a highlight of the tasting.
6. Ethiopian Coffee –
One of the key highlights of the dining experience was the Ethiopian coffee! Single origin, exclusive coffee is a big delight to Coffee lovers.
Traditionally, Ethiopian Coffee is had with butter and salt to cut down the bitter taste of it.
The first sip of coffee is to be had as it is, followed with few sips by adding few drops of melted butter and lastly, with a pinch of salt and drinking it unstirred.
I enjoyed my coffee as it was since the bitterness was bearable to me, but to truly experience the joy of Ethiopian coffee, following the traditional path is your way to go!
You get all of the above items inclusive in the Baraka Messob at 1199/- INR.
If you have the large appetite to eat it all, order one of the Messobs starting at 799/- per person or else choose from the A la Carte menu.
The interior of the restaurant has a huge number of artifacts, picture frames and some of the furniture that is sourced directly from Ethiopia itself! Not just that, the colour scheme is made to match the national flag of the country too!
Apart from the normal seating, they also have a section where the traditional seating is arranged in case you want to be seated that way.
The staff makes sure you get a royal treatment as would you have in Ethiopia and help you out with what to order and to decide according to your liking.
Dining at Abyssinian was a wonderful experience as I got to learn and try Ethiopian for the first time! The flavors and spices are similar to our Indian ones hence, do not worry much about how would you like it, I can vouch that you’ll definitely have a great time here!
A shout-out to Team carpe Diem for extending an invitation and the staff at Abyssinian for their hospitality.
Disclaimer –
We were invited for a complimentary tasting. The above review is a narrative of our experience at the restaurant and is in no way biased, influenced or plagiarized. All rights reserved on the pictures and review.
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