Injera
Injera is the foundation of Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking: a large, thin, spongy flatbread of teff flour fermented for 2–3 days, slightly sour and covered in tiny holes. It serves as plate, cutlery and bread at once — stews and vegetables are spooned onto it, then pieces are torn off to scoop them up. Teff is a tiny gluten-free grain native to the Ethiopian Highlands, where it has been grown since ancient times. Fermentation takes time, but the work is only mixing the batter and cooking the rounds.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Mixing 10 min
- Fermenting 2880 min
- Cooking 30 min
- Cooling 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMix the batter
In a large glass or ceramic bowl whisk the teff flour with the lukewarm water into a smooth, thin, lump-free batter.
Ingredients: 300 g teff flour · 500 ml lukewarm boiled water · ½ tsp salt · 100 ml water to thin · 1 tsp oil for wiping the pan
Cover and leave
Cover with a clean cloth and leave somewhere warm (22–25°C). Do not stir.
Ingredients: 300 g teff flour · 500 ml lukewarm boiled water · ½ tsp salt · 100 ml water to thin · 1 tsp oil for wiping the pan
Ferment
Leave the batter for 2 days. A layer of greyish or dark liquid gathers on top, with bubbles and a slightly sour smell beneath — the sign fermentation is working. If fuzzy mould of any colour appears (white, green, black, pink) or it smells rotten rather than sour, throw it away.
Ingredients: 300 g teff flour · 500 ml lukewarm boiled water · ½ tsp salt · 100 ml water to thin · 1 tsp oil for wiping the pan
Bubbles and a sour smell — it is working.Ready the batter
Carefully pour off the dark liquid from the top. Add the salt and stir, adding water until the batter is as thin as crêpe batter or slightly thinner.
Ingredients: 300 g teff flour · 500 ml lukewarm boiled water · ½ tsp salt · 100 ml water to thin · 1 tsp oil for wiping the pan
Heat the pan
Heat a large non-stick pan (26–28 cm) over medium heat and wipe it with oiled paper. It should be hot but not smoking.
Ingredients: 300 g teff flour · 500 ml lukewarm boiled water · ½ tsp salt · 100 ml water to thin · 1 tsp oil for wiping the pan
Pour in a spiral
Pour in about 100 ml of batter, starting at the edge and spiralling towards the centre so it covers the base thinly. Holes start forming at once.
Ingredients: 300 g teff flour · 500 ml lukewarm boiled water · ½ tsp salt · 100 ml water to thin · 1 tsp oil for wiping the pan
A spiral from the edge — the holes appear at once.Cook covered
When holes cover the whole surface, put on a lid and cook 2–3 minutes, until the top is dry and the edges lift. Injera is never flipped.
Ingredients: 300 g teff flour · 500 ml lukewarm boiled water · ½ tsp salt · 100 ml water to thin · 1 tsp oil for wiping the pan
Lift and cool
Slide onto a cloth and cover. Cook the rest the same way. Stack them only once cooled, or they stick together. Serve with stews.
Ingredients: 300 g teff flour · 500 ml lukewarm boiled water · ½ tsp salt · 100 ml water to thin · 1 tsp oil for wiping the pan
One side only, never flipped.
Before you start
Teff flour
Teff flour is sold in health food shops and online, in brown and ivory varieties — ivory gives a lighter, more delicate injera. If it must be gluten-free, choose flour certified gluten-free. Outside Ethiopia teff is often mixed half and half with wheat flour, which makes cooking easier but the bread is no longer gluten-free.
What to serve
Injera goes under misir wot (red lentil stew), shiro (thick chickpea flour stew), gomen (braised greens) and doro wot (chicken in berbere sauce).
Storage
Wrapped in film, the rounds keep 2 days at room temperature. Fermented batter keeps up to 3 days in the fridge for cooking fresh as needed.
