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Nitir Kibbeh

Samrawit Asfaw
Cultured, Aged and clarified with herbs and spices
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Aging 60 days
Course butter, spice
Cuisine Eritrean, Ethiopian

Ingredients
  

  • 4 pint Pasteurized organic heavy cream not ultra pasteurized
  • 1 cup Cultured butter milk
  • 1 tbsp Ethiopian thyme (tosign)
  • 1/4 cup Kosseret dried leafs (lippa abysinica) hard to find but look at notes
  • 1 tbsp Cardamom ground ( Ethiopian black cardamom) can be Indian black cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric (optional) for color
  • 8-12 cups Cold water

Instructions
 

Culturing

  • clean, smoke your container, and cover overnight if possible.
  • Mix cream and butter milk (I used my stand mixer bowl) clay pot or glass would work too, avoid using plastic containers.
  • Let it sit covered at room temp for 72 hrs, until it is as thick and test like yogurt

Making butter

  • Whisk using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or butter churner until the butter is separated from the buttermilk.
  • Strain the butter milk (may use it for bread, make cottege cheese (ayibe) or drink as is)
  • Add 4 cups of very cold water in the bowl with the butter then rinse out the buttermilk from the butter until the water runs clear. (Stir it to get as much buttermilk out as possible from the butter) repeat as needed.

Aging

  • To prepare the butter, pour it into a container with a lid. It's best to use a container that has been pre-smoked with woira ( African olive tree wood) to enhance the flavor. Press the butter with a spoon to ensure there are no gaps and sprinkle tosign (thyme) on top. Keep the container in the coldest part of your house, preferably a dark place, for a week. After a week, stir the butter, remove any water at the bottom, and continue to stir every week to two weeks for a total of up to 2 months to prevent mold.

Pre clarifying (manegor)

  • After aging is completed, pour the butter into a pot and add 6-8 cups of water, boil for about a minute, let it cook and keep it in the fridge over night.
  • The next day the butter will solidify on top, punch a whole with wooden spoon around the edge of the pot (whole on the butter) and get rid of the water (it is going to look like thin milk)

Clarifying

  • Grind your spices using mortar or a coffee grinder.
  • Add Turmeric, Kosseret and Korerima into the pot with butter, then start clarifying
  • Start with medium temp. for the first 7-10 minutes, then reduce to medium low once you see the bubbles start to reduce, stir often and make sure the spices are not burnt. Clarify until all the bubbles are gone and you are left with clear butter with the herbs in bottom.
  • Let it cool, then using a cheesecloth or a strainer, strain the butter into your desired smoked container. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Can be stored at room temp for 3-5 months and in the fridge/freezer for up to a year.
  • When you make your next nitir kibbeh you may mix it with the old to expedite the aging process (to about a month) for 4 pint of fresh butter use 1/4 cup of old butter as a starter.
  • Smoking your contain with woira will give it that classic smoked flavor
  • Visit my amazon store for all the ingredients.
Keyword Eritreanfood, ethiopiannitirkibbeh, nitirkibbeh