Injera – 5th time a charm?
Ever since I was at the Horn of Africa last year, I’ve been trying to master the art of making Injera, Ethiopian flat bread. Though I don’t know what it’s called in Djibouti or Somalia, they both have something similar. Essentially, it’s sourdough made from Tef, a grain which grows in the Ethiopian highlands. Tef has a very strong, nutty, coffee like flavour. Because of its intense flavour it requires a strong tasting Wat (stew) which I made with pork. Here is the recipe.
Pork Wat
Pork loin – cubed
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 pepper, diced
Niter Kibbeh (ghee in India)
Berberé paste
The fist step is to make the Berberé. There are many different recipes for this but the one I used is a combination of niter kibbeh, cayenne, cloves, pepper, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, garlic and ginger. Warmed the NK, ground my spices and threw them in with a bit of water. After 20 seconds or so (careful to not burn them) I poured the mixture into a mason jar let it marinate overnight on the counter. Next day I simply cooked the meat and veggies in olive oil, transferred them into the Creuset, added the Berberé, a bit of water, and cooked at 350 for 1 hour.
Now for the Injera
This was a bit tougher. It took four previous tries to understand how it is done. My biggest problem, of course, is the Tef. As it is a gluten-free grain it doesn’t stick together very well. So, to cook it properly I finally figured out that high-heat is required to cook it. High as in 8 or 9 on the stove. This also means that my cheap Teflon pan was warped slightly with my tries. Also, I figured out how to cheat by substituting half of the Tef flour for all-purpose flour to get a bit of gluten in the mix.
3/4 cup ground Tef (I used the coffee bean grinder to grind it into a fine powder)
3/4 cup of white flour
water
Mix everything so that you get a crèpes-like consistency. As it is a form of sourdough, cover it, leave it on the counter out of the sun and let sour (2-3 days). You’ll know when it’s ready by the bubbles forming in the mix. If you put it in the fridge it won’t sour. Now heat you skillet to a very high heat, 8 or 9 on your stove. Before cooking the first I find that it is useful to add a bit of the mix and spread it out across the skillet, cook and discard. Don’t know why but it primes it. Now, add water to mix to bring it back to a crèpes consistency and cook as you would crèpes. If the mix is properly soured you’ll see bubbles forming at the surface. Once it develops a spongy consistency, flip it and cook the other side for 30 seconds. Now it’s done.
Serving is easy. Put the bread on a large plate with a bit of the wat on top and voilà! I made a second bread which I sliced and rolled to eat with. The idea is to pit up some wat with the bread and eat with your hands, sorta like with naan and Indian food.
Leave a Reply