Injera Recipe

Injera is a soft, thin pancake-like flatbread made from fermented teff batter. A staple food in Ethiopia/Eritrea usually used as a serving base for scooping stews, meat, and vegetables like Doro wat, gomen wat, and much more.

Injera

Injera is a soft, thin pancake-like flatbread made from fermented teff batter. A staple food in Ethiopia/Eritrea usually used as a serving base for scooping stews, meat, and vegetables like Doro wat, gomen wat, and much more.

Prep: 30min

Yield: 10

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 374.9 kcal, Carbohydrate 73.6 g, Protein 13 g, Fat 3 g, Sodium 28.7 mg, Fiber 12 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Teff flour
• 2 cups water
• 5 cups teff flour
• 2 cups dough starter
• 1½-2 cups warm water
• 4 to 6 cups water (or as needed)
• 3 cups Water
• 1.5 cup Teff flour batter
• 1 cup cold water

Instruction:

1. Discard the muddy water above the starter and stir well. It’s ready to be used!
2. Discard the water again. Add 2 cups water, then mix the batter very well.
3. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of cool water to bring down the temperature of the absit.
4. The consistency should be light and thin but not too thin. The consistency of the batter should be between crepe and pancake.
5. Preheat the griddle to 400F (204c). Pour the batter in a circular motion around the surface of the griddle. Wait a few seconds for the holes to appear on the surface of the injera—then cover and cook for one more minute.

Authentic Injera (Ethiopian Flatbread)

Experience the unique flavor and texture of this famous fermented Ethiopian bread!

Prep: 10min

Total: 5780min

Yield: 6

Serving Size: 1 flatbread

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 flatbread, calories 146 kcal, Carbohydrate 28 g, Protein 5 g, Fat 1 g, Sodium 12 mg, Fiber 5 g

Ingredients:

• 2 cups teff flour, brown or ivory (, or substitute a portion of it with some barley or wheat flour)
• Note: If you’re new to making injera I recommend using a combination of teff and barley or wheat as 100% teff is more challenging to work with.
• 3 cups water
• Note: This method involves wild yeast fermentation. See blog post for details about using commercial yeast as a starter

Instruction:

1. *See blog post for detailed instructions*NOTE: Using mostly or all teff (which is the traditional Ethiopian way) will NOT produce the spongy, fluffy injera served in most restaurants which are adapted to the western palate and use mostly wheat, sometimes a little barley, and occasionally a little teff added in.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and water (and yeast if you’re using it). Loosely place some plastic wrap on the bowl (it needs some air circulation, you just want to keep any critters out) and let the mixture sit undisturbed at room temperature for 4-5 days (the longer it ferments, the deeper the flavor). (Depending on what kind of flour you’re using, you may need to add a little more water if the mixture is becoming dry.) The mixture will be fizzy, the color will be very dark and, depending on the humidity, a layer of aerobic yeast will have formed on the top. (Aerobic yeast is a normal result of fermentation. If however your batter forms mold on it, it will need to be discarded.) Pour off the aerobic yeast and as much of the liquid as possible. A clay-like batter will remain. Give it a good stir.
3. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Stir in 1/2 cup of the injera batter, whisking constantly until it is thickened. This will happen pretty quickly. Then stir the cooked/thickened batter back into the original fermented batter. Add some water to the batter to thin it out to the consistency of crepe batter. I added about 2/3 cup water but this will vary from batch to batch. The batter will have a sweet-soured nutty smell.
4. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Depending on how good your non-stick pan is, you may need to very lightly spray it with some oil. Spread the bottom of the skillet with the injera batter – not as thin as crepes but not as thick as traditional pancakes. Allow the injera to bubble and let the bubbles pop. Once the bubbles have popped, place a lid on top of the pan and turn off the heat. Let the injera steam cook for a couple or so more minutes until cooked through. Be careful not to overcook the injera or they will become gummy and soggy. Remove the injera with a spatula and repeat.
5. IMPORTANT NOTE: Both the texture and color of the injera will vary greatly depending on what kind of teff you use (dark or ivory) and whether or not you’re combining it with other flours. Gluten-based flours (e.g. wheat and barley) will yield a much different texture than 100% teff. In the pictures and recipe below I’m using 100% dark teff, something you will not find in restaurants and will look different than what most are accustomed to, but is traditional to Ethiopian home cooking. Make your injera according to what you prefer.

Injera

Injera is a sourdough-risen and spongy flatbread that is a staple in Ethiopia. It relies on flour made from teff, which is part of the lovegrass family, and produces seeds as tiny as poppy seeds. It is nutrient-dense and gluten-free. Injera is served with stews, both meat-based and vegetarian; a torn-off piece of the flatbread is used to pick up the accompaniments.

Total: 0min2D 2 0

Yield: Sixteen 10-inch rounds of injera

Serving Size: 1 of 16 servings

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 of 16 servings, calories 116, Fat 1g, Saturated Fat 0g, Carbohydrate 23g, Fiber 2g, Sugar 0g, Protein 4g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 96mg

Ingredients:

• 2 cups teff flour
• 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• Kosher salt

Instruction:

1. Combine the teff flour and active dry yeast in a large bowl. Add 2 cups lukewarm water and whisk or, more traditionally, use your hand to mix everything together, making sure the mixture is absolutely smooth with no lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until the mixture is bubbly and tastes sour like tangy yogurt, 36 to 48 hours. (It will start bubbling and rising in a matter of hours, but it can take anywhere from 36 to 48 hours to achieve a noticeable level of sourness, which is key to the flavor of the injera; see Cook’s Note.) After about 36 hours, begin tasting the mixture; this will help you determine when it’s just right and will help prevent it from souring too much.
2. At this point, the batter will look separated and watery on top. If you shake the bowl a little, you should see some bubbles rising to the top. Add the self-rising flour and up to 1 cup of water a little at a time. Whisk or use your hand to thoroughly combine into a smooth, thin, pourable mixture with about the consistency of a slightly thicker crepe batter. Cover again and let sit for 1 hour.
3. Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat for a few minutes. Have a lid for the skillet and a wire baking rack nearby. Whisk 1 teaspoon salt into the batter (it will bubble up). Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the skillet, tilting and swirling to coat with a thin layer of batter. The batter should spread quickly and easily. (If it’s too thick, whisk in a little more water.) Within a matter of seconds, you should start seeing small holes forming and the surface darkening as it cooks from the outside towards the center. When the injera is about 3/4 of the way cooked, cover the skillet and let steam for 1 minute. The injera is cooked when the edges are dry and lifting up from the pan. Carefully run a spatula underneath and transfer to the baking rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter.
4. You can stack the injera only when they are completely cooled; otherwise, they will stick to each other. Wrap the stack of cooled injera with a dry, clean cloth or paper towels to keep them from drying out until ready to serve. Serve at room temperature, or microwave for 30 seconds to heat through.

Injera Recipe – Ethiopian Flat Bread

Injera is a spongy, slightly sour flatbread from Ethiopia and Eritrea, considered to be the national dish of these two countries.

Prep: 15min

Total: 45min

Yield: 6

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 273 kcal, Carbohydrate 56 g, Protein 7 g, Fat 2 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Sodium 394 mg, Fiber 6 g, Sugar 1 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 60 g teff flour
• 60 g rice flour
• 200 ml water
• ½ Tbsp active dry yeast
• ½ Tbsp white sugar
• 250 g teff flour
• 250 g rice flour
• 70 g Injera starter
• 1 litre tepid water
• 1 tsp salt (added right at the end (Final Injera batter, step 2))
• vegetable oil or ghee for cooking
• 250 g teff flour
• 250 g plain flour or rice flour
• 2 tsp dry active yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 800 – 1 litre ml warm water
• 125 ml very hot water (just off the boil is perfect)

Instruction:

1. Cover with a kitchen paper and leave somewhere warm to sit for 2 hours, to rise.If you don’t have anywhere that’s not cold (if it’s winter), turn your oven light on, and place the starter in there. BUT DO NOT TURN THE OVEN ON.I place mine in the airing cupboard, in winter time.
2. Let the batter now sit for 2-3 days, covered with a kitchen paper or loosely covered with a lid, on your kitchen counter. This is the point where the batter will ferment, and at the end of it, you’ll get a sour smell, much like sourdough.If you live in a warm climate, 2 days will do, otherwise, you might want to go for the whole 3 days. Some of my readers have had to go 4 days. So many factors affect this.What you are looking for is when you can see a clear fluid layer and the batter is beginning to release bubbles.In the summer, I start checking after 1 day. And the same goes if I’m keeping the batter somewhere warm like the airing cupboard.
3. Take the saucepan off the heat and transfer the absit to a bowl and leave to cool to almost room temperature. This will take about an hour.
4. When the batter is bubbly, using a wooden spoon, stir in 250ml (1 cup) of lukewarm water and 1 tsp salt. Mix well.You are going for a pancake batter consistency. If you dip your fingers in the batter, it should all just run off, leaving a thin coat on your fingers, much like warm custard.
5. Leave the cooked injera to cool to room temperature, then cover with clingfilm and leave to sit for an hour before serving.The longer you leave the injera, the softer and tastier it will be. A day is perfect, making it a great recipe for when you have guests, as it can be done the day before.The injera can be frozen for up to 3 months (see article above).
6. Let stand for 20 minutes, then proceed to cook as above.

how to make injera from scratch