🥗 STARTER
Azifa (Ethiopian Green Lentil Salad)
Green lentils cooked until just tender, then chilled and tossed with red onion, green chili, lemon or lime and a sharp dressing of ground mustard seed.
Ethiopian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 30 min · plus 1 h hands-off time
~330 cal · 16g protein · 42g carbs · 11g fat · 8g fiber · 3g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Azifa is a cold salad of green lentils, and one of the dishes of the Ethiopian Orthodox fasting table, when meat, dairy and eggs are set aside and the cooking turns to lentils, peas and vegetables. Most Ethiopian lentil dishes are hot, slow stews, so a bowl of chilled azifa is a welcome change, especially in warm weather and at big family gatherings.
What makes it taste Ethiopian is the mustard. Cooks grind brown mustard seed to a powder, wet it with a little hot water and oil and let it mellow, then stir it through the lentils with lime or lemon juice, finely chopped onion and green chili. Some add tomato, garlic or a handful of parsley, and some mash a few of the lentils so the salad holds together.
It is served cold, scooped up with or eaten from the bowl as a starter or side, and it tastes better after an hour in the fridge, once the mustard has softened into the lentils.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 1 1/4 cups (250 g) whole green or brown lentils, rinsed
- 2 tsp ground brown mustard seed, or dry mustard powderHard to find? 2 tsp dry English mustard powder - hotter and a little flatter than freshly ground brown seed
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 1/2 medium red onion, very finely chopped
- 1 to 2 jalapeño or other green chili, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped, optional
- 1 small ripe tomato, seeded and diced, optional
- 3 tbsp lime or lemon juice
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp parsley, chopped, optional
Instructions
- 1Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the lentils and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, tasting from 20 minutes, until tender but still whole with a little bite. Drain and spread out on a tray to cool.✎ Chef’s noteDo not let them go soft. Overcooked lentils turn azifa into a dip, which some cooks like, but the classic salad keeps the lentils whole.
- 2While the lentils cook, stir the ground mustard with the hot water and 1 tbsp of the olive oil into a smooth paste and leave it to mellow.✎ Chef’s noteFreshly wetted mustard is harsh and bitter. Resting it takes off the sharp edge and leaves the warm, nose-tingling heat.
- 3Put the cooled lentils in a bowl, sprinkle over the mustard paste and mix well, lightly mashing a spoonful of the lentils against the side of the bowl if you like it to cling together.
- 4Add the onion, chili, garlic and tomato if using, the lime or lemon juice, the rest of the olive oil and the salt, and toss gently.
- 5Cover and chill for at least 1 hour, then taste for salt, lime and mustard, scatter over the parsley if using and serve cold with injera.
Ethiopian Orthodox fasting-day tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Addis Ababa. Shiro is ground pulse flour rather than one specific bean: chickpea most often, but broad bean or split pea depending on the region and the shop. It is cooked down with onion and berbere until it is smooth, and it is what a household eats on the days that are not feast days.
🗺️
Ethiopia. Injera begins with ersho, a splash of sour starter kept back from the last batch and stirred into teff flour and water, then left to ferment for two or three days before it meets a hot clay griddle. What comes off is tangy, spongy and pocked with holes, and it is laid out as the plate itself, with the stews ladled directly onto it.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Ethiopia
Misir Wot (Spiced Red Lentil Stew)Red lentils melted into a deep, chili-red stew built on berbere spice and slow-caramelized onions.
Doro WatEthiopia’s celebration dish: chicken slow-stewed in a mountain of caramelized onions and berbere, with whole eggs.
Shiro WotGround-chickpea flour whisked into a spiced, silky stew, the dish that feeds Ethiopia on fasting days and hard times alike.
Browse all Ethiopia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Blender.
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Azifa (Ethiopian Green Lentil Salad)?
Green lentils cooked until just tender, then chilled and tossed with red onion, green chili, lemon or lime and a sharp dressing of ground mustard seed.
Where does Azifa (Ethiopian Green Lentil Salad) come from?
Azifa (Ethiopian Green Lentil Salad) is an Ethiopian dish from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Can Azifa (Ethiopian Green Lentil Salad) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Azifa (Ethiopian Green Lentil Salad) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Azifa (Ethiopian Green Lentil Salad) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Azifa (Ethiopian Green Lentil Salad) take to make?
About 1 h 45 min in all: 15 minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking, plus 1 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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