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Shimbra Wat (Chickpeas With Spicy Flaxseed Paste)

Chickpeas in red sauce on rolled up injera flatbread.
Photo by Peter Cassidy

This dish comes from Lalibela—one-time imperial capital and home to eleven magnificent monolithic churches hewn from a single rock some nine hundred years ago. It is also a place where chickpeas, the Desi variety in particular, are extremely popular. Cooking the awaze before blending it with the legumes tempers the chili-rich sauce's heat. Ideally, serve with injera, which will soak up the ample rust-red sauce.

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