Homemade Mild Berbere Spice Mix- Ethiopian Recipe

If you've been reading my blog for some time, you'll be aware of the fact that I'm very into "ethnic" foods from various cultures around the world, especially cultures where they make low cost, vegan dishes, such as India or Mexico. Ethiopian food is one of those that I love, since it is super low cost to make, relies heavily on legumes, and is so full of flavor that you forget you're eating legumes.
Ethiopian food can be pretty much be summed up in two words- injera and berbere.
Injera is a naturally gluten free, fermented flat bread which is the base of all Ethiopian meals. It is used as the plate and also as the utensils with which you eat the food. I have tried numerous times to make injera at home and have floppped many times...
Berbere is a spice mix made with many ingredients, and it is used in most Ethiopian dishes to give them their signature flavor.
Oh, and did I mention berbere is fiery hot?
I made an Ethiopian meal the other day, but with a homemade flat bread that was not injera, and I made homemade berbere to use in the various ethiopian dishes for the meal. I based it off of this recipe, only I didn't make it fiery hot- only mildly spicy (I wanted my kids to eat it!), and the food came out terrifically.
If you like things volcanicly hot, feel free to increase the amount of hot pepper flakes in the recipe.
For everyone else, keep it the same.
And if you like no spice, leave it out entirely.

For the most part I used non ground spices instead of pre-ground spices. If you use non ground ones like I did, just increase the amount you put in by a drop, since ground spices are more compact than whole.

Homemade Mild Berbere Spice Mix- Ethiopian Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (sweet) paprika
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon fenugreek
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (adjust as needed)

Instructions:
1. Put all the spices into a coffee grinder (or mortar and pestle, but that will be a lot more work).

2. Grind until you have a fine, uniform mixture.

Use and enjoy!

P.S. If you do enjoy Ethiopian cooking, I have a gluten full mock injera recipe that I've already shared on PennilessParenting.com, and I have another delicious Ethiopian recipe coming right up.

Have you ever eaten Ethiopian food? What was it? Were you a fan? Ever heard of or used berbere before? Does this look like a spice mix you'd enjoy?
Are you a fan of super hot and spicy or no?

Linking up to Real Food Wednesday, Allergy Free Wednesday