Ethiopian Flat Bread Injera Food

INJERA (ETHIOPIAN FLAT BREAD)

Steps:

• Stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
• Combine the eggs, buttermilk, and the 1 tbsp cooking oil; add all at once to the flour mixture, stirring until smooth.
• Pour 2 tbsp of the batter into a hot, lightly greased 6 inch heavy skillet over medium heat; lift and quickly rotate the pan so that the batter covers the bottom of the skillet. Return the skillet to medium heat. Cook about 1 minute or till light brown on the bottom.
• Invert the bread onto paper toweling. (If necessary, loosen the bread with a small spatula.).
• Repeat with the remaining batter. Roll up jelly-roll style and serve warm.

ETHIOPIAN FLAT BREAD (INJERA)

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
• Cover and let set an hour or longer until batter rises and becomes stretchy.
• The batter can sit for as long as 3-6 hours if you need it to.
• When you are ready, stir batter if liquid has settled on the bottom.
• In blender, whip 2 c.
• of batter at a time, thinning it with 1/2-3/4 c.
• water.
• Batter will be quite thin.
• Heat a 10-inch or 12-inch non-stick frying pan over medium to medium-high heat.
• Pour batter into heated pan (1/2 c. if using a 12-inch pan; 1/3 c. if using a 10-inch pan) and quickly swirl pan to spread batter as thin as possible.
• Batter should be no thicker than 1/8 inch.
• Do NOT turn.
• Injera is cooked through when bubbles appear all over the top.
• Lay each Injera on a towel for a minute or two then stack in a covered dish to keep warm.
• (VERY important to rest on towel before stacking!) For those not familiar with Injera, serve it as the"utensil" when serving thick stews.
• Use pieces of injera to scoop or pick up bites of stew-- no double-dipping-- eat your"utensil" each time.

AUTHENTIC INJERA (AKA ETHIOPIAN FLAT BREAD)

Steps:

• 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.
• Stir in the salt, a little at a time, until you can barely detect its taste.
• Lightly oil an 8 or 9 inch skillet (or a larger one if you like); Heat over medium heat.
• 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.
• 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.
• Remove and let cool. Place plastic wrap or foil between successive pieces so they don't stick together.
• To serve, lay one injera on a plate and ladle your chosen dishes on top (e.g., a lovely doro wat or alicha). Serve additional injera on the side. Guests can be instructed to eat their meal without utensils, instead using the injera to scoop up their food.

INJERA (AFRICAN [ ETHIOPIAN] FLAT BREAD)

Steps:

• Mix the flour with the water; you want to have a somewhat liquid consistency.
• Heat a large non-stick frying pan. The secret of making injera is that the pan be very hot.
• Pour a thin layer (think crepe thinness) of mixture on the pan; cook until the bottom is light brown and the top becomes sponge like.
• You CAN turn it and cook the other side to crispness and brownness but traditionally the top side is supposed to be spongy -- let the bottom cook but don't turn it.

INJERA (ETHIOPIAN FLAT BREAD)

Steps:

• Combine flours and yeast in a glass or ceramic bowl.
• Add warm water and mix until smooth.
• Let mixture sit for 3 full days at room temperature, stirring once a day.
• The mixture will bubble and rise.
• Add the baking soda and salt and let batter sit for 10-15 minutes .
• Preheat a 9" skillet to the point where water will bounce off it.
• Pour about 1/3 of the batter onto the skillet quickly and make sure you've evenly coated the pan.
• Only cook the injera on one side, and it should not brown.
• It's done when the moisture has evaporated and"eyes" appear on the surface.
• Serve with Ethiopian stews.

INJERA (ETHIOPIAN FLATBREAD)

Steps:

• Teff flour is available from a whole foods store or Northern African markets. Nancy's yogurt is best because of its tartness. You want not-sweet yogurt.
• Whisk (or stir together with your largest fork) the flours, salt & baking soda in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk the yogurt into the club soda, then stir this in the flour mix making a thin, smooth batter. Strain to make sure there a no lumps.
• Pam your largest skillet & heat over medium high heat. Pour about 1/2 cup of batter into the skillet starting in the center & spiraling out. Cook for 20 seconds. (The bread should have a gajillion tiny pinholes in it at this point.) Cover for 30 more seconds. Remove it to a warm platter & cover with a cloth to keep it warm while you cook the rest of the flat breads.
• Lay a piece of the flat bread on the hugest plate you have. In the center of it put a dipper of your finest, zestiest, most mouthwatering thick stew. Now, eat the stew, tearing off pieces of the bread from the sides & scooping up the stew. (Look Ma, no fork!) Need another piece of injera?! Sure you do! It could take 2 or 3 pieces to scoop up all that wonderful stew.
• Once you have gained confidence with this & know your mama isn't going to come make you use a fork, add 2 or 3 more dippers of food. Veggies. Green beans & carrots & maybe a wilted spinach salad. Of course, you'll need more injera to scoop all that up. But what the heck -- .

TEFF AND BARLEY INJERA (ETHIOPIAN FLAT-THIN BREAD)

Steps:

• Starter - mix the yeast with one cup of warm water; keep until rises; or use sourdough starter.
• Combine in a large container the teff and barley flour with cold water or mix lightly in a blender.
• Add the starter and mix it well; add water generously; cover it tight; keep it outside to ferment;
• The second day, pour and discard the water; add same amount of fresh water to the dough; keep it tight.
• The third day, pour and discard the water; blend the self-rising flour with three cups of cold water; mix it with the fermented dough; add water as required. This time it should be thinner than pancake dough. Keep it outside for 15 minutes to rise.
• Warm a flat pancake pan, or skillet, or a specialized electric stove; pour the dough in circle shape in small amount; bake it for 30 -45 seconds.
• Depending on the size of skillet, you will get 20 to 30 injeras.
• If less sour taste preferred, bake it the second day.
• You may find teff flour in health store.