Regional blends
Mitmita
A very hot Ethiopian chilli powder with cardamom, clove and salt, used with raw beef.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for cooks, makers and the curious.
Mitmita is a small, fiery orange-red powder from Ethiopia made from bird's eye chilli, korarima, clove and salt. It is hotter than berbere and is used mostly as a table condiment and in raw or lightly cooked meat dishes such as kitfo.
What goes in
- Bird's eye chilli857%, Hot.
- Korarima214%, Cardamom relative.
- Clove17%, Pungent.
- Cinnamon17%, Optional.
- Salt214%, Seasoning.
Parts by volume of the whole spice. The ring shows each part's share.
Made step by step
Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Ratios and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional-style way.
Step 1: Dry Sun dry the chillies until brittle. Step 2: Toast Toast the korarima seeds and clove lightly. Step 3: Rest Cool the spices. Step 4: Grind Grind the chillies and spices to a fine powder. Step 5: Blend Mix in the salt. Step 6: Store Store sealed, away from light. Finished Mitmita, by share.
Heat
The chilli used, often piri piri or bird's eye, is among the hotter ones. Cooks use small pinches, and it is served on the side so that diners can season to taste.
Use
It is stirred into spiced butter for kitfo, sprinkled on eggs and lentils and mixed with niter kibbeh. Proportions are family specific.
Where it is used
The spices in it
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryMasala desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are an illustrative, traditional-style ratio, not a standard: every family and maker blends differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Clove: Bayu Nugroho, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chili pepper: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cinnamon: Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bird's eye chili: Daniel Risacher, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Korarima: Joe Castleman ( Gyrofrog ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source