Ethiopian Flat Bread Injera Food

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 RECIPE - ETHIOPIAN FLAT BREAD

Steps:

• Place the teff flour, rice flour, yeast, sugar and water in a large ceramic bowl and mix thoroughly.
• 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.
• Place the teff and rice flours in a large bowl.
• Add 70g (½ cup) of the starter.
• Gradually add 250ml (1 cup) of the water, mixing with a wooden spoon. Add more water, a little at a time, until you have a very thick batter that resists the spoon.
• 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.
• When you've reached the right stage, as described above, pour off the liquid at the top.
• In a small saucepan over high heat, boil 250ml water (1 cup). Add 80 ml (⅓ cup - use a proper measuring cup) of the injera batter to the boiling water, stirring continuously. Keep stirring until you get a thick porridge like batter. This is called absit.
• 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.
• When the absit has cooled, we are going to use a blender to mix everything up to give us a smooth batter. This is the Ethiopian way.In 2-3 batches, place some of the earlier Injera batter and some of the absit in your blender and blend to create a smooth batter.Place back into the original fermentation container that you used and leave to sit, covered loosely for another 1-2 hours, until there are plenty of bubbles in the batter. If you want this process to be fast, find a warm place. Otherwise, it may take a good 6 hours before you see those bubbles, which are crucial.
• 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.
• Ethiopians cook their Injera on a non stick electric griddle. If you have that, use it, if not, a large non stick flat griddle or frying pan will do. An Indian tawa will be perfect for this, if you have it.We're going to go ahead with a non stick pan on the stove. Heat the pan over medium-high heat.
• Transfer your injera batter to a jug. When your pan has heated up, starting from the outside of the pan, pour your batter from a height of about 6 inches, in a circular motion, completely covering the pan.If you need to tilt the pan to cover all of it, do it quickly, as the batter will crisp up fast. But it's preferable not to tilt the pan. It may take you a couple of attempts to get the hang of it.
• At about 30 seconds, you'll start to see air pockets or holes on the surface.. Now, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 1-2 minutes until the edge of the injera is curling up. The sizzling sound will also have subsided quite a bit at this stage.If your batter was on the thinner side, your injera ought to be done at 1 minute. So 1 or 2 minutes (or even 3) will depend on how thick your injera is.
• Using a large, wide spatula, lift the side of the injera and slide onto a plate.Turn the heat off and time to check on our first injera, and adjust the batter, if necessary.If your injera is too soft, sticky or even worse, became a lump on the pan:pour a little of your batter into a blender and add 40 g (¼ cup) rice flour. Blend to a smooth paste, and stir this into the rest of the batter to mix thoroughly.If your injera is too thick or dry:stir in a little water, maybe about 2-4 Tbsp, to get a slightly thinner batter.
• Continue cooking the rest of the injera and stack them on top of each other on the plate.You could reserve ½ cup batter to use as your starter, and store in the fridge for up to 1 week, for your next injera.
• 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).
• In a large bowl, mix the yeast with a little bit of the warm water and stir to combine.
• Add whichever 2 flours you're using, along with the salt.
• Gradually, add more warm water, stirring with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth batter, this time the consistency of thick pancake batter. Again, you may not need all the water.
• Cover with cling film and let stand for 1 hour.
• After an hour, the batter would have increased slightly, give it a stir and pour the hot water, stirring constantly, until you get the thick crêpe batter we mentioned in the traditional method.
• Let stand for 20 minutes, then proceed to cook as above.

QUICK INJERA

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine teff flour, all purpose flour, instant yeast, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Stir in apple cider vinegar and warm water. Whisk vigorously into a smooth batter without lumps. Cover and set aside for 1 hour in a warm spot.
• Preheat a 9" non-stick or cast-iron skillet on high heat for 5 minutes. Lightly spray the skillet with cooking spray. Pour ¼ cup of the batter on the outside of the hot pan and work in a spiral toward the center. Tilt the pan to fill in any holes. Immediately cover the pan with a loose-fitting lid and let the injera cook for 2~3 minutes.
• Injera is done when the top is no longer shiny or wet and feels firm to touch. Transfer the cooked injera to a plate and cover immediately with a kitchen towel or a plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining batter.Stack the injera on top of each other. Keep them covered to keep them moist and soft.

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 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 -- .

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.

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.

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 everything together to form a batter.
• Let set in large bowl, covered, an hour or longer, until batter rises and becomes stretchy.
• It can sit as long as 3-6 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 1/2 - 3/4 cup water.
• Batter will be quite thin.
• Cook in non-stick frypan WITHOUT OIL (is that a great instruction or what?) over medium or medium-high heat.
• Use 1/2 cup batter per injera for a 12-inch pan or 1/3 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 1/8-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.

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.