My new cookbook, Ethiopian Delights: A Collection of Ethiopian Recipes, will be published in January 2011. Following is some fascinating information about Ethiopian flatbread,  teff (grain used in the bread), and a recipe for you to try.  Please try it out and let me know what your experience is with it, or share your favorite injera recipe.

The most valued grain used to make injera is from the tiny, iron-rich teff. However, its production is limited to certain middle elevations and regions with adequate rainfall, so it is relatively expensive for the average household. Because the overwhelming majority of highland Ethiopians are poor farming households that grow their own subsistence grain, wheat, barley, corn, and/or rice flour are sometimes used to replace some or all of the teff content. There are also different varieties of injera in Ethiopia, such as nech (white), kay (red) and tikur (black).

Unusual for a yeast bread, the dough has sufficient liquidity to be poured onto the baking surface, rather than rolled out. In terms of shape, injera compares to the French crepe and the South Indian dosai as a flatbread cooked in a circle and used as a base for other foods. The taste and texture, however, are quite unique and unlike the crepe and dosai. The bottom surface of the bread, which touches heating surface, will have a relatively smooth texture, while the top will become porous. This porous structure allows the injera to be a good bread to scoop up sauces and dishes.

In Ethiopia, a variety of stews, sometimes salads (during Ethiopian Orthodox fasting, for which believers abstain from most animal products) or simply more injera (called injera firfir), are placed upon the injera for serving. Using one’s right hand, small pieces of injera are torn and used to grasp the stews and salads for eating. The bread under these stews soaks up the juices and flavors of the foods and, after the stews and salads are gone, this bread is also consumed. Injera is thus simultaneously food, eating utensil, and plate. When the entire “tablecloth” of injera is gone, the meal is over.

There are various different recipes for making injera, and it is difficult to make perfect injera on the first attempt. A number of factors can alter the quality of injera, such as the temperature of the grill, grill type, temperature of dough during fermentation, quality of flour, ways of mixing dough, etc. Try this recipe, but if the quality of the injera is poor, you may need to alter and experiment. Good luck!

Ingredients:

5  lb. self-rising flour

1  lb. teff

1  lb. corn flour

½ gallon water (until of medium thickness)

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in large bowl; mix thoroughly by hand.
2. Let ferment overnight (24 hours) at room temperature.
3. Heat flat round or square grill (Mitad) to 400 degrees F.
4. Remix dough.  If too thick, add water until dough is runny (medium thickness).
5. Fill measuring cup or large pitcher with batter; pour mixture on griddle in thin stream, moving inward in circular motion, from left to right.
6. Form pancake 9 inches in diameter; when bubbling uniformly, remove by grabbing one end with both hands.
7. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

Yields: 10 servings.