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Also known as Silsi Sauce · Eritrean
Thick Eritrean tomato and berbere sauce used with fata, pasta and other dishes.
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Silsi, also spelled selsi, is an Eritrean sauce of tomatoes cooked down with berbere, on a base of onion and garlic in oil. You pour it hot over torn bread and yogurt to make fata, and cooks serve it with hilbet. The cook decides how thick and how hot it gets.
Community recipe, measurements not yet verified. This method is compiled from traditional and family sources and hasn't been kitchen-tested by us yet. Treat the quantities as a starting point and adjust the berbere, oil, and salt to taste.
Finely shred/chop onion, carrot and optional chile.
Cook in oil until soft and lightly caramelized.
Add berbere and tomato paste; cook briefly.
Add tomato, garlic, salt and pepper; simmer uncovered.
Add optional lemon juice.
No. Silsi is the sauce. Fata is the dish you make with it: torn bread soaked in hot silsi, with yogurt on top.
This version is. It cooks in oil, with no meat, butter or dairy, so you can make it on fasting days.
Fata first: silsi over torn bread with yogurt. Cooks also serve it with hilbet, a smooth lentil and bean dish, and you can toss it with pasta.
Where to buy what it calls for, and where to eat it.
Need the berbere or spices? Find a Habesha market near you, or read the Ethiopian and Eritrean food guide.
Find a market