Injera: just before cooking

Once you have your starter going, you’re ready to do the final steps before making injera. I usually save about 2 cups of starter in a quart jar in the fridge in between batches of injera. A couple days before I want to make injera, I take my starter out of the fridge, drain off the liquid, then pour the starter into a big bowl. I then add two cups of lukewarm water, and stir well.

At this point I begin to add flour. You can use all teff flour (this will convert your wheat starter to a teff starter). Or you can do as I do and use half wheat flour and half teff flour. Gradually add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Put dough on floured counter and knead for 5-10 minutes, until smooth. At this point, wash the bowl that you were working the batter in, and return the dough to the bowl. Pour enough water into the bowl to cover the dough with water. Cover lightly with a cloth, and let sit for 2-3 days.

The dough will gradually absorb the water, begin to bubble, and then start to separate again, leaving a layer of liquid on top. I usually feed the dough once the day before I cook it (by adding add 1 cup teff flour and 1 cup lukewarm water). Then on the morning of the day that I cook the injera, I make ‘ahb-seet’. (This is one of the steps that my daughter taught me!)

To do this, you boil 2 cups of water on the stove, then add 1 cup of the injera batter. Stir briskly while still over the heat. The mixture will thicken rapidly. Remove from heat and keep stirring.

Scoop the thickened mixture back into the main bowl of batter. Stir the batter briskly with a wooden spoon, spreading the hot thick ahb-seet throughout the batter. Once you have diminished the heat of the ahb-seet by stirring it in, use your clean hands to finish thoroughly mixing the batter.

Add enough water to make the batter fairly thin, about the consistency of crepe batter. (It reminds me of the consistency of melted ice cream.) Then cover the batter again and let it set for 2-4 hours until you are ready to cook the injera. I’ll explain the cooking of the injera in one final post.

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