This delicious spiced clarified butter is amazing with eggs, popcorn, sauted vegetables of all sorts, lentils, kitfo, on toast, mashed potatoes, hash browns — pretty much anything. All the spices make it a powerful antioxidant as an added bonus. There are many ways to spell niter kibbeh — I have seen it as nitr kibe, nit’ir qibe — there are also many ways to make niter kibe — everyone has their own favorite combination of spices.

Butter is traditionally made in Ethiopia from soured milk, not cream. The sour milk is placed in a clay churn or a bottle gourd (calabash). The churn may have previously been smoked with Olea africana. Besides imparting a distinct flavour to the butter, smoking the churn has a bacteriostatic effect. After filling, the churn is stoppered with a plug — a false banana leaf, or a piece of skin or leather stretched over the mouth and securely tied. The churn is then agitated — often by simply rolling it around on the lap until the butter forms. (Source)