Injera

[sapphire_chan]

Is the most awesome bread ever!

Tell me about your experiences making it.

It's basically a baked sourdough starter, yes? Oops, looked like it's griddled...

Is teff 100% necessary?

[carfreemama]

Just happened to see this in catching up, after being away from a computer for a week!

Have you made injera? Are you looking for a recipe? Sundays at Moosewood has a whole section on it, explaining exactly how to do it and what it is. I can look it up if you need it. From what I can tell, teff is pretty much essential; but maybe something else will say it isn't. I can now find whole teff in my local health food store in Nova Scotia, Canada, and I couldn't a few years ago. I also have a flour mill, so I intend to grind it to make the flour (which I still can't find, BTW).

From what I remember, injera is a flatbread, a pancakey-thing, that you let sit for a few days to make it "sourdough". I've had it many times at Ethiopian restaurants and I agree it's the best thing ever. It's used to scoop up (the world's most delicious) food there. Let me know if you think I can help!

[prescottchels]

I've had injera at restaurants that rocked! Loved it!
Tried to make it at home. not so much...
I went gluten free and so I made mine w/100% teff and the flavor was really strong. It may have soured too much, and Teff is also a bit on the gritty side. But I think the secret to the great flavor and texture of the injera at restaurants is that they use wheat and teff for a fluffier, milder product.
Every now and then I REALLY wish I could eat at least some wheat, but it's not meant to be...
Good luck w/your injera experiments!

[annethcz]

I do think that restraunts here (in the US) use both wheat and teff in their injera. It just doesn't taste quite as tangy as the injera I ate in Ethiopia.

That said, I did experiment with making injera a couple of years ago. I had a ton of trouble getting the batter to ferment without getting moldy. I think it had a lot to do with the humidity level and heat in my house. Since then, I use copycat recipes when I make Ethiopian food.

[susienjay]

I'm not sure how authentic it is but I've used the recipe in Vegan Lunchbox several times and everyone in my family likes it. It's basically uses 1 cup teff flour and 1 cup of wheat flour mixed with 2 cups of water. I think there is 1 tsp of yeast and 1 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. I let the batter sit on the counter for maybe an hour before I make it on the griddle. It's only cooked on one side.

I think at least some teff is necessary. It's got a pretty unique flavor.

[sapphire_chan]

Thanks everyone!

I had forgotten about this thread until I was at the Children's Museum today and saw they had plastic injera as part of the "learn about healthy foods" activity.

How funny is that???