About Ethiopian Cuisine

Dining in Ethiopia is characterized by the ritual breaking of injera and eating from the same plate, signifying the bonds of loyalty and friendship. These bonds are often demonstrated in the form of gurrsha – that is the placing of food in the mouth of another diner from one's own hand.

Injera, the traditional Ethiopian bread, is part of every entree. It is pancake-like bread on which the various stew dishes are served. The traditional way of eating it is with your fingers, which in itself is a delicate art. A bite sized piece of the injera is broken off to pick up a mouth full of the chosen dish.*

Ethiopian dishes are characterized by the variety of spices from which they get their exotic taste. Watt is a stew that comes in the form of beef, lamb, chicken, fish and vegetables. These range from hot and spicy watt to very mild. The mildly seasoned watt is called Alicha.

Vegetarian dishes are also very popular in Ethiopian cuisine especially during Lent, the fifty-five days before Easter. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians are prohibited from eating meat and meat by-products during Lent and most Wednesdays and Fridays. The variety of watt and alicha made of lentil, peas and other vegetables are just as popular and tasty as those containing meat.

*Silverware available upon request

About Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant

Here at Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant, our injera is made from self-rising wheat flour and teff flour (Teff is a grain native to Ethiopia). Our mothers and grandmothers never used baking powder, baking soda or processed yeast in making injera. At Ethiopian Diamond we strictly follow this old tradition.

At Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant all dishes are free from artificial coloring, artificial flavoring and artificial preservatives. We use vegetable oil in all vegetarian dishes, No butter, no eggs, no milk, no honey!

From NewCity:

Almaz Yigizaw, the chief cook and owner of Ethiopian Diamond—her name means diamond in Amharic—grew up in Gondar and learned to cook from her grandmother. To this day, she judges her cooking on whether it tastes just like hers.

Almaz imports the seasonings and butter from her sister who still lives in Gondar. She also imports the grain for the "injera" bread, and the coffee, from Kaffa, where coffee beans were first cultivated. When there are enough people, you can watch the full coffee-making ritual, which involves roasting the beans over a fire, grinding them, preparing the hot coffee, and pouring into your cup from the earthen cooking pot. Coffee is always accompanied by incense.

In 1982, Almaz and some friends thought they were fortunate to be admitted to America under the immigration quota system, because their country was undergoing some internal turmoil. They were sponsored by Travelers and Immigration Aid, and ended up on Chicago's far North Side. Almaz graduated from Senn High School (one of the most linguistically diverse schools in the country) and attended Rockford College for two years, until two brothers and a cousin arrived and she joined them back on the North Side. She worked at Allright Parking, then at Northwestern's Norris Center, and attended classes at Loyola.

She was on the board of directors of the Ethiopian Community Association when the Chicago Bears sponsored an entrepreneurial training course. Her final paper, developed with classmate Sisay Abebe, included a survey of where Ethiopians lived and how much business would be needed to sustain a restaurant. She was particularly impressed when two students at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management told her "This plan will work!" And in fact it has. It's been featured on television and in several publications. She bought out her partner two years ago, but remains the chief cook. Almaz hopes that experiencing the restaurant will sometimes lead to a deeper interest in the history and culture of Ethiopia.

- From the Newcity article
Historic Meal: Sopping up cultural morsels at Ethiopian Diamond
by Chris Chandler

Our Original Location:

6120 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL 60660
Map
(773) 338-6100

Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:00 AM-10:30 PM
Fri-Sat 11:00 AM-11:30 PM
Sun 11:00 AM-10:30 PM

Ethiopian Diamond II in Rogers Park

7537 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60626
Map
773-764-2200

Hours:
TBA

About Ethiopia

Gondar Castles

Gondar was founded in 1636 by Emperor Fasiladas who erected the first of a number of fine castles which still stand today. His example was followed by his son Yohannes I, and grandson, Iyasu the Great, so that by the end of the 17th century, Gondar was the site of many imposing palaces surrounded by a stout wall. There are also fine churches and innumerable dwellings for the citizens at large.

Lalilbela Church

They say the 8th wonders of the world. The small town of Lalibala in Ethiopia is the home of the world's most astounding sacred site: 11 rock-hewn Churches, each carved entirely out of a single block of granite with its roof at the ground level. Were it not for these extraordinary churches, Lalibala would almost certainly be well off the tourist radar. The churches of Lalibala were not constructed, they were excavated. Each church was created by first carving out a wide trench on all four sides of rock, then painstakingly chiseling out the interior

Axum

The legacy of queen Sheba lies just below the shifting sand, and churches hewn out of sheer rock attract wide-eyed tourists. The African nation's historic route begins in the ancient city of Axum, which dates to about 100 B.C. This capital was the first place in Ethiopia to adopt a new religion-Christianity. According to the Old Testament, the Queen of Sheba was born in Axum, but traveled to Israel to meet King Solomon. They had a Son named Menilik, who later become the first emperor of Ethiopia. Minilik brought the original Arc of the Covenant back to Ethiopia from Israel. Today, the Arc, which once housed the Ten Commandment, remain well hidden in Axum. It guarded by a selected group of Monks, whose sole committed is to protect the sacred vessel. Axum is also known for its massive, towering sculptures that are more than two thousand years old. Their significance is still under investigation by archeologist. Axum is Ethiopia's oldest City, dates back some 2000 years to when it was the hub of the Axumite Empire.

Emperor Tewodros (or Theodore)
(1868-1868)

Emperor Tewodros (Theodore) II was born Lij Kassa in Qwara, a small district of Western part of Ethiopia in Gonder in 1818. On February 11, 1855, kassa deposed the last of the Gondarine puppet Emperors, and was crowned negusa nagast of Ethiopia under the name of Tewodros II. He soon after advanced against Shoa with a large army. Tewodros afterwards devoted himself to modernizing and centralizing the legal and administrative structure of his kingdom, against the resistance of his governors. During Tewodros' reign, the alliance he forged between Britain end Ethiopia was ended In 1868 when the Emperor, angered by Queen Victoria of England failure to reply to his diplomatic overtures, imprisoned several British subjects. The British sent an army to free the subjects which defeated the Ethiopians and, in turn, led Tewodros to fall from power and commit suicide on April 13, 1868.

Churchill Godana Street

Today Ethiopia is a thriving country with modern cities which still reflect it's history and rich culture.