Shortcut Nefro
ንፍሮ·(nif-ro)
Buna in the Suburbs: The Weekend Coffee Ceremony
Six o'clock. Walk into any Ethiopian home on a weekend, and you will smell roasting green coffee beans. Right beside that potent brew sits a steaming, simple bowl of nefro—boiled wheat, chickpeas, fava beans, and sweet corn. Instead of an overnight soak or hand-sorting dried fava beans, a pressure cooker and a pop-top can of chickpeas deliver that exact textural harmony in twenty minutes. Drain the cans, heat the oil, and get the coffee brewing as the skillet hisses. No exotic spices, no fuss—just good grains, plump beans, and salt.
Ingredients
- whole wheat berries1 cup
- water3 1/2 cup
- chickpeas15 oz
- fava beans15 oz
- frozen sweet corn1 cup
- kosher salt1 1/2 tsp
Method
- 01
Pressure cook the wheat berries.
Combine the dry wheat berries, 3 cups of water, and a generous pinch of salt in an Instant Pot. Secure the lid, set to Sealing, and cook on High Pressure for 35 minutes. Allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure.
- 02
Combine the grains and beans.
Transfer the tender wheat along with about 1/4 cup of its starchy cooking water into a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the rinsed chickpeas, fava beans, and frozen corn.
- 03
Simmer and season the mixture.
Stir gently and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Pour in just enough warm water to loosen the mixture—about 1/2 cup—so a slightly starchy, salty broth coats the grains. Cover and let it simmer on medium-low for 10 minutes, allowing the canned legumes to absorb the earthy flavor of the wheat.
- 04
Serve hot alongside strong coffee.
Taste for salt; the dish should be assertively savory to combat the bitterness of a dark roast coffee. Serve steaming hot in small bowls.
Notes
Stovetop variation.
If you do not have a pressure cooker, bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the wheat berries and salt, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 50 to 60 minutes until the wheat is tender but still delightfully chewy, then drain any excess water.
Sourcing fava beans.
Canned fava beans (sometimes labeled broad beans or foul) are readily found in the international or Middle Eastern aisles of most supermarkets. If entirely unavailable, canned butter beans make a passable textural substitute.