Ethiopian food is always delicious and I love to cook it, but sometimes I like to get that flavor without all the work. Ethiopian Sloppy Joes are perfect for those days.

Here’s the recipe:

I used OwlHaven’srecipe with a few modifications.

2 large onions
6 potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized pieces (1.5 inch cubes)
1 pound ground beef
2 tbsp oil
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp berbere
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
4 cups water

Cook ground beef in a large heavy skillet and set it aside. Wipe
excess grease from skillet . Peel onions and puree them in a food
processor (or mince them very fine). Peel and mash garlic. Peel and
chop potatoes into 1.5 inch cubes.

Heat oil in a large skillet and add pureed onions. Cook over medium
heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown
a little. Add garlic, tomato sauce, water, and potatoes. Add the
ginger, turmeric, berbere, pepper and salt. Mix well. Add cooked ground
beef.

Stir and cook over medium-low heat for 20-40 minutes, stirring every
3-5 minutes. The mixture will look a little watery at first, but water
will gradually evaporate as potatoes cook. Dish is done when potatoes are cooked through.

If you don’t have access to berbere you can use cayenne pepper. 1-3 tsp would be plenty. Berbere gives it the Ethiopian flair but if it is not possible I am sure cayenne would give you the spice kick.

My kids eat this up with a dollop of sour cream mixed into their serving.