Eritrean Tihlo

The Cultural Story

Tihlo is the dish that defines Eritrean eating at its most festive. Small, firm dumplings made from roasted barley flour are rolled by hand into balls, threaded onto a thin wooden skewer called a merfe, and then dipped — at the table, communally, without ceremony — into a small clay pot of zigni or tsebhi (spiced meat or lentil stew). The combination of the dense, slightly nutty barley ball and the fiery stew soaking into it on contact is one of the great textural pleasures of Horn of Africa cuisine. You eat standing, or leaning in, or across from someone you trust enough to share a pot with. Tihlo originated in the Tigray and Agame regions of northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, where barley grows abundantly in the high altitude climate. In Eritrea it is particularly associated with Asmara and the surrounding highlands, where tihlo restaurants — often serving nothing else — have existed for generations. The dish is almost always ordered in a group: a large shared pot of stew arrives with a plate of tihlo balls and several merfe skewers, and the meal proceeds as a single shared act of eating rather than individual portions. You cannot eat tihlo alone. That is not the point. Making tihlo at home requires binjalo — roasted barley flour, which is different from raw barley flour in flavor and texture. The roasting brings out a deep, almost nutty character that raw flour lacks, and gives the dumplings their distinctive chew. If binjalo is unavailable, dry-roasting barley flour in a skillet for a few minutes before using it produces a reasonable approximation. The dough is mixed with water and a little salt until it holds together, then rolled into smooth balls the size of a large marble. Simple to describe. Satisfying to make.