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Teff Injera -Ethiopian Flatbread

100% teff injera is gluten-free

5 from 1 reviews

Teff injera is a naturally fermented flatbread. Injera has a deliciously nutty and sourdough flavor that compliments traditional Ethiopian stews. See the section above for links to a few traditional Ethiopian stew recipes.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Preferment

Remaining Ingredients

  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg (optional, see notes)
  • Vegetable oil (for frying)

Instructions

  1. Mix the teff and water in a glass bowl or measuring cup. Leave it somewhere warm to ferment for 6-24 hours. It should develop into a nice bubbly starter pretty quickly. Stir once or twice during the ferment.
  2. When you are ready to cook the injera, beat in one egg and add salt, to taste.
  3. Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat and brush on some oil.
  4. Put in a small amount of batter into the center of the skillet, then turn the skillet around so that it forms a thin pancake (though not as thin as a crepe).
  5. Cook slowly on one side until the injera is set. Injera is traditionally cooked only on one side. It is supposed to be quite wet and soft on the other side. However, if you want to cook both sides, make smaller pancakes and flip them.
  6. Serve injera right away, or allow them to cool before stacking to keep them from sticking.

Notes

  • Look for teff flour in African grocery stores, in the gluten-free area of a health food store, or online.
  • Traditional recipes don’t use an egg. However, it is difficult to prevent injera from sticking to the pan and falling apart without some sort of binder. Most restaurants replace up to 1/2 the teff in their injera with wheat flour, which provides the necessary structure. I added an egg for a 100% teff recipe. If you want to make it egg-free, then no replacement for the egg is necessary. Either make small pancakes or replace 1/2 of the teff with wheat flour.
  • To make really large injera you need to invest in an injera pan. Otherwise, just make smaller injera in a frying pan.
  • See the section above for links to my favorite Ethiopian stews.

Keywords: gluten free,sourdough, crepes, pancakes, traditional, teff, vegetarian, dairy free, nut free, soy free, sugar free