Adventures in Injera Making

I must clarify that I am not a chef. I hate to cook and only cook because my family needs to eat and I cannot hire a personal chef or eat out every day. Cooking for me is a BIG DEAL!

After promising to make injera for the past several months, I finally ordered some Teff four from a local grocer and made my first attempt at the art of making Ethiopian bread. I found the following recipe and mixed it on a Friday night.

Injera Bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups ground teff (180 g)
2 cups water
salt, to taste

vegetable oil, for the skillet

Directions

1. Mix ground teff with the water and let stand in a bowl covered with a dish towel at room temperature until it bubbles and has turned sour; This may take as long as 3 days, although I had success with an overnight fermentation; The fermenting mixture should be the consistency of a very thin pancake batter.
2. Stir in the salt, a little at a time, until you can barely detect its taste.
3. Lightly oil an 8 or 9 inch skillet (or a larger one if you like); Heat over medium heat.
4. Pour in enough batter to cover the bottom of the skillet; About 1/4 cup will make a thin pancake covering the surface of an 8 inch skillet if you spread the batter around immediately by turning and rotating the skillet in the air; This is the classic French method for very thin crepes; Injera is not supposed to be paper thin so you should use a bit more batter than you would for crepes, but less than you would for a flapjack pancakes.
5. Cook briefly, until holes form in the injera and the edges lift from the pan; Do not let it brown, and don’t flip it over as it is only supposed to be cooked on one side.
6. Remove and let cool. Place plastic wrap or foil between successive pieces so they don’t stick together.

*Due to my work schedule I let it sit for four days instead of the recommended three days.

I also found a recipe to make injera out of buckwheat flour. I thought I would make both recipes and see which I liked best. The injera made with Teff flour is by far the most expensive recipe. I thought if the buckwheat was just as good as the Teff, I’d save some money.

Buckwheat Injera

Ingredients

1 cup buckwheat pancake mix
1 cup Bisquick
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2-2 cups water

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients with just enough water for an easy pouring consistency.
2. Bring a 10-inch skillet or a handled griddle pan to medium heat uniformly over the flame. Do not let the pan get too hot.
3. Spray skillet with cooking spray.
4. Fill a measuring cup (with spout) or a large cream pitcher with batter.
5. Pour the mixture on the hot pan or griddle in a thin stream starting from the outside and going in circles to the center from left to right. As soon as it bubbles uniformly all over remove from heat. Pancakes should be 9 inches in diameter.
6. Place the pan in an oven at 325 for about 1 minute until the top is dry but not brown.

I was so confident that my injera would be a success I made Doro Alicha and Ethiopian lentil beans to go with it.

Ethiopian Lentils

SERVES 6 (change servings and units)

Ingredients
2 cups dried lentils, picked over and washed
6 cups water
3/4 cup anaheim chili, seeded and chopped
2 cups red onions, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup spiced butter
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon berbere, sauce
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Boil the lentils in water for 5 minutes Drain, reserving liquid.

2. In 4 quart sauce pot, saute the Anaheim peppers and onions in the spiced butter until the onions are tender.

3. Add the lentils, 4c of the reserved liquid, and the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.

4. Cook, covered, over low heat 35-40 mins, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Doro Alicha

Ingredients

6 onions
1 chicken, cut in parts, without skin
2 cups clarified, spiced butter
1/4 tsp each of black pepper, garlic powder and ginger
1/2 cup wine
salt to taste
about 4 cups of water
4 hard-boiled eggs
a lime, quartered

1. Wash the chicken parts and soak in water with the lime.
2. In a large pot, fry the onions without fat until tender. Add butter and stir. Add about 1/2 cup of water and the wine.
3. Add spices and the chicken.
4. Cook for about 45 minutes. Add more water if necessary, and cook until done, and until
the sauce is reduced (though it’ll have to cool down to solidify a little).
5. Add four eggs and serve. (I make more eggs, because my kids love them!)

Alas, my results were not what I had pictured. The kids insisted that it tasted like injera, just looked like dried mud! I have to say that the buckwheat mixture tasted better, but I am going to try the Teff recipe once again and let it ferment for only three days this time. The chicken was well liked and the lentils weren’t a favorite, but lentils can be a hard sell with kids.

I promised my kids that by the time they are grown I’ll be an amazing Ethiopian chef! I’ll probably regret that promise one day, since it is going to take a lot of practice for me in the kitchen. It is worth the trial and error though. The kids know I’m trying and they appreciate it, even if they don’t say it.

I would love for all of you to share your recipes and stories of your Ethiopian cooking adventures.

Photo Credit

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