Ethiopian Feast: Injera

This probably looks like nothing special…

But this spongy, slightly sour, fermented flatbread made with teff flour is a very important part of any Ethiopian feast! Dishes are served not only with it, but atop it, and it is used to scoop and pick food up in lieu of silverware.

Last week, I shared a spice blend called Berbere, that you will find used in one of the dishes you see below that I will share later this week. Injera is the second of 6 Ethiopian dishes I’ll be sharing 🙂

Does that not look amazing? Maybe I’m the only one that finds that spread super appetizing. I looove Ethiopian. Oh, and all of this happens to be vegan, and gluten-free!

So the key to this bread is a little fermentation that can happen in a day or two. One of the main characteristics of injera is its tang.  You can see all of the bubble and activity that happened in about 36 hours on my kitchen counter in this photo:

A lot of time injera is made with a blend of flours, so it will often appear lighter than mine here, but I went with the most traditional method, and used all teff flour. I created this recipe after looking at like 10 others online and kinda just guessing. A lot of the recipes either used no yeast and instead baking powder, or some sort of sourdough starter. This is a modified version of everything I kinda saw out there.

One thing I will say, this bread is a little weird to just eat on it’s own, but when paired with other Ethiopian stews or salads it is amazing!

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Injera

Yield: 8-10 flatbreads

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 2 and 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 3 cups teff flour
• 2 cups water (+ up to 1/2 cup more to get a good texture)
• salt
• coconut oil (I found a spray kind that is pretty awesome by Pam)

Directions:

1. Add the warm water and sugar to a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the top, and allow to sit for 10 minutes until foamy. Add in the flour and water and whisk to combine fully. Cover with saran wrap and allow to sit on the counter for 1-2 days, until slightly sour.
2. Which in the salt, and enough water, if necessary, to give it a fairly loose consistency.
3. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Coat with a bit of coconut oil. Ladle about 1/2 cup batter into the pan and stir to coat. Allow to cook for 20 seconds or so until bubble begin to appear, then cover and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 min until the top looks set. Invert the flatbread onto a cutting board or plate. Stack the flatbreads between parchment paper or paper towel, and allow to cool fully.

*The injera can be made a day or 2 ahead and kept in a ziplock baggie on the counter or in the fridge.