AI-generated image
Ertib (Addis Ababa street sandwich)
Ertib: soft roll stuffed with spiced potato, egg, tomato, onion and chilli sauce
Ertib means 'wet' in Amharic, and the name fits: small kiosks around Piassa, Merkato and the universities of Addis Ababa split soft rolls and pack them with mashed spiced potato, sliced boiled egg, tomato, raw onion and a spoon of runny chilli sauce that soaks into the crumb. Some stalls tuck in a crushed sambusa or a spoon of canned tuna; this version keeps it meat-free with potato and egg, the way most students buy it. It is cheap, filling and messy, eaten standing up at lunchtime or after school. The sauce is a quick awaze-style mix of berbere, lemon and oil, so the sandwich is tangy and hot against the mild potato. Avoid filling the bread too far ahead; the sauce soaks through and the sandwich falls apart. Chef's tip: dress the onion and tomato with the lemon and salt a few minutes before building, so their juice softens the bread the way the street version does.
- Total time
- 27 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 ⅛ lb floury potatoespeeled and cut into chunks
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 garlic clovecrushed
- ¾ tsp salt
For the salad
- 1 red onionvery thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoesdiced
- 1 green chillifinely chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
For the chilli sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp berbere
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
To serve
- 4 soft white bread rollsabout 80 g each
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 1 ⅛ lb floury potatoes in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 12 minutes until a knife slides in with no resistance.
12 minStep 2: At the same time, lower 4 eggs into a small pan of boiling water and boil for 9 minutes for firm yolks. Cool in cold water, peel and slice.
9 minStep 3: Drain the potatoes well and mash with 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 garlic clove and 0.6 tsp salt until smooth but still a little rough.
2 minStep 4: Toss 1 red onion, 2 tomatoes and 1 green chilli with 2 tbsp lemon juice and the rest of the ¾ tsp salt and leave for 5 minutes to soften.
5 minStep 5: Stir 1 ½ tbsp berbere, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 3 tbsp water and 1 tbsp lemon juice into a runny sauce. It should pour like thin ketchup; add a little more water if it is thick.
Step 6: Split 4 soft white bread rolls without cutting all the way through. Spread a thick layer of potato inside, add egg slices, pile on the salad with its juice and spoon over the chilli sauce. Eat straight away.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 460 kcal
- Protein
- 15 g
- Carbs
- 60 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does ertib (Addis Ababa street sandwich) take?
- About 27 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 12 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of floury potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of eggs?
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water per egg, left for 5 minutes (baking only; vegan).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Sandwich grecKebab baguette
In Paris, a "grec" is the late-night kebab sandwich named after the Greek-run shops that first sold it in the Latin Quarter. On rue de la Huchette and rue Saint-André-des-Arts near Saint-Michel, students queue after a night out for crusty bread or pitta stuffed with meat shaved from a turning spit, lettuce, tomato and onion, a garlicky white sauce, and, the Paris touch, a handful of fries pushed right inside. This home version marinates chicken thighs in spiced yoghurt, sears them hard and slices them thin, with oven fries. It contains milk, egg (in the mayonnaise) and wheat. Chef's tip: slice the meat thinly across the grain after resting; thick chunks don't feel like a grec.
French
ZapiekankaOpen baguette with mushrooms and cheese
Zapiekanka is Polish street food born in the 1970s and perfected at the hatch windows around Plac Nowy in Kraków's Kazimierz district, where students and night owls queue for one at midnight. Half a long baguette is topped with mushrooms fried with onion, covered in grated cheese and baked until crisp at the edges and bubbling, then finished with a zigzag of ketchup and chives. The classic version has no meat at all. Use a hard cheese made with vegetarian rennet (many supermarket mild Cheddars and Goudas are). Chef's tip: fry the mushrooms until completely dry before they go on the bread; wet mushrooms make the baguette soggy instead of crisp.
Polish
PepitoGrilled beef and chicken sub
When the bars close in Caracas, the queues form at the pepito stands of Las Mercedes and Altamira: long soft rolls stuffed with griddled strips of beef and chicken, grated cheese, lettuce and tomato, a crunchy handful of potato sticks and squiggles of garlic sauce, ketchup and mustard. It's messy, generous food, best eaten on the pavement. The common mistake is crowding the griddle, so the meat stews instead of searing. Chef's tip: cook the beef and chicken separately in a very hot pan, in small batches.
Venezuelan