
image credit: chicagoreader.com
Ethiopian Chechebsa or Kita Firfir/Kitcha Fit-Fit
Ethiopian Shredded Flat Bread Fried with Spices and Butter
The Best Way to Make Chechebsa
Measurements and Ingredients
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- 3 or 4 tablespoons of clarified butter or olive oil
- 2 teaspoons of berbere
- Salt
- Water
Preparation Method:
The Flat Bread - Kita - Chapati - Pita
Start by mixing the flour with a pinch of salt or wait till it is all cooked and done and sprinkle some salt while you are mixing your pieces of flat bread with the berbere and butter.
In a small bowl, start making a batter by slowly adding water to the flour and mixing it well. The thickness of the kita depends on the thickness of the batter.
Just be careful to not to make it watery. If you feel it is too thin, just add a little bit more flour. Beat the batter well so it wouldn't have any lumps.
You can always check the consistence by lifting your beater/stirrer or whatever tool you are using to beat your dough.
Dress a frying pan with a little oil and heat it to a medium hot.
Slowly pour your batter onto the hot pan in a thin layer.
The thiner the layer, the tastier your Chechebsa becomes.
If you feel you have put too much batter to one side or at the center of the pan, just move the pan side to side or use the back of a spoon to flatten/spread it out.
Wait two to three minutes and flip the kita so the top gets fried too.
The light brown spots should be your signals to tell you the kita is fully cooked. Once done frying the kita, put it aside to cool.

The Chechebsa
Once the kita is cool enough to touch it with your hands, tear it to small pieces on a plate.
Put the butter and berbere in a frying pan and set the oven to medium.
Let the butter melt slowly together with the berbere for a minute or so.
Be careful not to burn the berbere.
Add the pieces of kita into the pan and stir them all well so all the pieces soak in the butter/berbere mix uniformly.
Take it off the heat and enjoy your Chechebsa.