Ethiopian Flat Bread (Injera)
Submitted by P.kanzigg
Ethiopian injera flatbread made with self-rising, whole wheat, and cornmeal flours. Spongy, slightly sour fermented bread used as both plate and utensil for scooping stews.
YIELD
15 piececsPREP
15 minCOOK
5 minREADY
120 minEthiopian injera is the foundation of every traditional Ethiopian meal: a spongy, tangy fermented flatbread that doubles as both plate and utensil. The bread soaks up spicy berbere stews underneath while torn pieces serve as scoops in your hand. This recipe uses self-rising flour, whole wheat, and cornmeal as a North American workaround for the traditional teff flour that’s harder to find outside of Africa.
The hour-or-longer rest is key. Yeast does the chemical work that turns plain batter into something with the signature sour bite and porous, bubbled top. Cooking it on a dry, hot pan without oil gives you the characteristic blistered, eye-pocked surface that traps stew on contact.
Kitchen Tips
- Let the batter rest the full hour, longer if you can. Three to six hours produces a more pronounced sour tang closer to authentic injera.
- Don’t flip the injera. Bubbles forming all over the top mean it’s cooked through.
- A nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron pan makes all the difference. Bare stainless steel will stick and tear the delicate batter.
- Stack cooked injera in a covered dish lined with a clean towel. They turn rubbery if left exposed to air.
Variations
- For authentic injera, swap ½ cup of the whole wheat flour for teff flour (look at Ethiopian/Eritrean grocers or online).
- Pair with doro wat (spicy chicken stew), misir wat (red lentil stew), or any of the saucy curries from the East African or Indian traditions.
- For a faster sour tang, add 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt or sourdough starter to the batter.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix and let set in large bowl, covered, an hour or longer, until batter rises and becomes stretchy.
It can sit as long as 3 to 6 hours.
When ready, stir batter if liquid has settled on bottom.
Then whip in blender, 2 cups of batter at a time, thinning it with ½ to ¾ cup water.
Batter will be quite thin.
Cook in non-stick frypan WITHOUT OIL over medium or medium-high heat.
Use ½ cup batter per injera for a 12-inch pan or ⅓ cup batter for a 10-inch pan.
Pour batter in heated pan and quickly swirl pan to spread batter as thin as possible.
Batter should be no thicker than ⅛ inch.
Do not turn over. Injera does not easily stick or burn.
It is cooked through when bubbles appear all over the top.
Lay each injera on a clean towel for a minute or two, then stack in covered dish to keep warm.
Finished injera will be thicker than a crepe, but thinner than a pancake.
To serve, overlap a few injera on a platter and place stews on top (I think most kinds of spicy bean or veggie stews/curries would be great with this. For Ethiopian food, the spicier the better).
Or lay one injera on each dinner plate, and ladle stew servings on top.
Give each person three or more injera, rolled up or folded in quarters, to use for scooping up the stews.
For a more authentic injera, add ½ cup teff flour (teff is a kind of millet) and reduce the whole wheat flour to ¼ cup.
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