Awaze substitutes

Not really a substitute so much as the actual recipe, since awaze is berbere loosened with liquid and seasoned.

Best for

kitfo, tibs and awaze tibs, beyaynetu, dipping injera, a marinade for beef or lamb

The only thing that goes wrong here is impatience. Straight out of the bowl it tastes raw, dusty and chalky, because the dried chili and fenugreek in berbere have not hydrated. Give it 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature and it transforms into something glossy and rounded. Taste for salt at the end, because commercial berbere ranges from unsalted to fairly salty.

The best ready-made jar to reach for, corrected in the two places it differs most.

Best for

tibs, grilled meat, sandwiches and wraps, dipping bread, a quick marinade

Harissa is caraway- and coriander-forward with roasted red pepper sweetness and usually a lot more garlic, so the result is brighter, sharper and more Mediterranean than awaze. What it is missing is berbere's fenugreek-and-clove bass note, which is exactly what the added fenugreek and honey are patching. Genuinely good on tibs even uncorrected, just clearly not the same sauce.

A plain chili paste used as a blank canvas and spiced up toward awaze.

Best for

kitfo, tibs, when you want to control the heat level yourself, dipping

The heat, the coarse texture and the cling are all right, and the flavour starts out bare, which is an advantage because you are building rather than fighting. What you will notice is vinegar: sambal oelek is more acidic and sharper than awaze, so it tastes tangier and less earthy. A little extra honey and 10 minutes of resting settles it.

An unexpected but effective match on texture, since gochujang has almost exactly awaze's thick, clinging consistency.

Best for

dipping, a table condiment, grilled meat, when you want less raw-chili bite

Gochujang is distinctly sweeter and carries a fermented soybean funk, so a plate of tibs eaten with it tastes rounder, deeper and less dusty-spicy than it should, and the fenugreek note is gone entirely. It is very good in its own right and the closest thing to awaze on texture alone. Better as a dip than as a marinade, because the sugar in it catches and burns in a hot pan.

The supermarket emergency version, using two things almost every kitchen already has.

Best for

an emergency mid-meal, tibs, eggs and sandwiches

This is the least-bad option rather than a good one. The colour and the cling are right, but it reads as garlicky and vinegary, and the tomato paste makes it sweeter and more ketchup-adjacent than awaze ever is. Honest expectation: it will taste like a nice hot sauce next to your kitfo, not like awaze. If you have any warm spice at all, an eighth of a teaspoon of cardamom or cloves helps a surprising amount.

A roasted-pepper paste base for anyone who wants awaze's texture and colour without the full heat.

Best for

serving to people who dislike chili heat, spreading on bread, a mild table sauce, vegetable platters

Ajvar is sweet roasted red pepper with little or no heat, so on its own it is pleasant and completely unlike awaze. Adjika is closer, being garlicky and often already spicy. Either way the finished sauce comes out sweeter, softer and more vegetal, which is fine on bread and thin sitting next to kitfo. Add the cayenne gradually and taste, because these pastes vary enormously.