Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisines characteristically consist of vegetable and often very spicy meat dishes, usually in the form of wat (also w’et or wot), a thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made out of fermented teff flour. Eritrean and Ethiopian eat exclusively with their right hands, using pieces of injera to pick up bites of entrées and side dishes.

Zigini with injera is a traditional Eritrean dish consisting of two elements – zigini, a spicy stew prepared with berbere spices and beef or lamb cubes, and injera, a flatbread cooked on a griddle or a stone. In order to prepare zigini, cooks use ingredients such as cubed meat, oil, onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, berbere spices, and cilantro for garnish.

Once prepared, the stew is served over the flatbread, but injera can also be used as a utensil for consuming this spicy stew.

Zigni is a traditional Eritrean dish with a spicy flavor. This stew consists of cubed meat (mostly beef), onions, garlic, tomatoes, and tomato paste, and it is typically flavored with berbere spice blend, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and coriander.

It is recommended to serve zigni with injera flatbread on the side. Although zigni is considered the national dish of Eritrea, it is also popular in Ethiopia, where it is known as kai wat.