Injera is an Ethiopian and Eritrean dish. It is like a large "pancake" served with different toppings. For my injera I have made Doro Wot (Chicken Stew), Misir Wot (Spice red lentil stew) and Shiro Wot (Ground Lentil and Chickpea Stew), and also with boiled eggs. The toppings are served on the Injera and you take small pieces of the injera with your hand and scoop up the toppings to eat,
Injera
Serves
about 6
Ingredients:
3 1/2
cups teff flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp Instant dry yeast
4 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp Instant dry yeast
4 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup
water for boiling
Plus extra water for thinning to desired consistency
Plus extra water for thinning to desired consistency
Add
Teff flour to a large mixing bowl. You’ll find Teff flour at health food stores
or Ethiopian or Eritrean stores. You can use other flour instead as well. Stir in some all purpose flour. Then sprinkle in a sprinkling of yeast. Add some salt, for
flavor.
Next,
splash on the water – enough to make it almost runny, somewhat closer to
crêpe batter than pancake batter. About 4 1/2 cups. Whisk together and let
sit, covered, until bubbly 3-4 hours. Stir now and then. If you want sour
injeras wait – a day or two.
After
3-4 hours or after 2 or 3 days…If you
let it sit for 2-3 days pour off the blackish liquid that floated to the top of
the mixture. If you don´t let it stand to be sour but only 3-4 hours you will
not have this blackish liquid on top.
Whisk
the batter smooth again. Next,
boil a cup of water. Ladle
in a half cup of the batter and whisk continually until thick and the mixture
resemble toffee pudding. Let
cool until lukewarm and then whisk vigorously into the Teff batter. This
cooked mixture gives the teff batter the structure needed for the air pockets
to form in the finished pancake. Again,
make sure the mixture is almost runny, between the consistency of
crêpe batter and pancake batter. Add water if needed. Let the
resulting mixture rest for about 30 minutes. Wait for the bubbles to form. Preheat
the largest nonstick pan you have over medium heat.
Ladle
the batter into the pan. Traditional Injera will be a foot and a half round! Swirl
the batter around from outside to the inner to completely coat the pan with a
thin layer. Cover
loosely with a large piece of foil, or a lid – but leave the lid cracked so
steam can escape. Cook until the surface of the Injera dries out and is full of
little holes. Also, when ready, the edges will curl.
Carefully
transfer the Injera to a towel to cool (it will stick to a plate when hot). How
to transfer this widemouthed flatbread: some people use large round woven
discs. Others use thin wooden peels. Once
cooled, you can stack the Injera as needed.
If your
injera doesn’t produce enough holes, boil some more batter with water – to help
thicken it up. Wisk it in. Ladle
with thick, spicy stews and tear off pieces of the injera to scoop up the stew.
TOPPING FOR THE INJERA
Doro Wot (Chicken Stew)
Juice of 1 lemon
Kosher salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large yellow onions, finely diced (about 1 pound)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup niter kibbeh
¼ cup berbere
Directions:
For the chicken stew: Put the chicken in a nonreactive
bowl and toss with the lemon juice and 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand at room
temperature for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, prepare a bowl with ice water. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and salt generously, making sure there is enough water to cover the eggs by 1 inch. Carefully add the eggs, bring back to a gentle boil and cook for 6 minutes. Transfer the eggs to the ice water, and shake or tap gently to crack the shells. Remove the eggs from the water and, when cool to the touch, peel. Set aside; do not refrigerate or they will not warm up in the sauce.
Put the onions in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 10 minutes, taking care not to burn them. You may need to reduce the heat as the onions dry out.
Increase the heat to medium high; add 1/3 cup of the niter kibbeh, 1/4 cup of the berbere, the garlic, ginger, tomato paste and black pepper, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and the chicken and bring to a simmer, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook at a gentle simmer until the chicken is very tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced and the sauce is very thick, about 45 minutes, occasionally spooning the sauce over the chicken.
Remove the pan with the chicken from the heat and add the eggs, turning to coat them in the sauce. Cover the pan and let rest for 5 minutes.
Shiro Wot – (Ground Lentil and
Chickpea Stew)
1 small
onion
2 cloves
garlic
1/4 cup
olive oil
1 tsp
Berbere
2.5 cups
water
Salt as
needed
Finely chop
onion and garlic and in a medium pot, sautee with olive oil for about 3-4
minutes. Add Berbere spice and a couple of tablespoons of water and simmer for
about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining water to the pot
and carefully whisk in shiro powder a teaspoon at a time until completely
combined. Let cook on low heat until it becomes thick but smooth – about 15
minutes. Salt to taste. Serve hot with Injera on the side.
Misir Wot – (Spicy Red Lentil
Stew)
3-4
tablespoons olive oil
1 heaping
tbsp Berbere spice
1 medium
onion
3 cloves
fresh garlic
2.5 cups
water
1/2 can
tomato paste (cans here in Canada are 156ml or 5.27 oz)
Salt as
needed
Finely chop onion
and garlic and sautee in medium sized pot with a few generous tablespoons of
olive oil for about 4-5 minutes until onions are soft. Add in tomato paste and
Berbere spice and stir until mixed thoroughly. If mixture is too thick, add
about 1/4 cup of water. Cook mixture another 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally.
Place red
lentils in a bowl and rinse thoroughly. Once rinsed, add 2.5 cups of fresh
water to the bowl and add this to the onion and Berbere mixture. At medium
heat, stirring occasionally, simmer until lentils are fully cooked – about 15
or 20 minutes. If mixture becomes dry before lentils are cooked, add small
amounts of water to mixture until they are. (This is something I just learn to
do by eye!). Once you know that they are fully cooked, stir in about 1/2 of
warm water. Salt to taste. Serve hot with Injera on the side.
Niter Kibbeh (Spiced
butter)
Ingredients:
1 pound unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon whole allspice berries
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
6 black cardamom pods, crushed lightly with a knife blade
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
Directions:
For the niter kibbeh (spiced butter): Melt the butter in a
small saucepan over medium-low heat, swirling occasionally. Stir in the ginger,
allspice, fenugreek, oregano, turmeric, cardamom, garlic and onions and bring
to a simmer. Simmer until the butter is clear and the milk solids remain on the
bottom of the pan, about 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to low if the butter is
boiling too quickly--if it burns it will taste bitter. To finish the niter kibbeh: Line a strainer with dampened
cheesecloth. Skim the foam from the top of the butter and discard. Ladle the
butter through the strainer, leaving behind the milk solids on the bottom of
the pan. Store in a glass jar.
Berbere
Berbere
mix can be bought in Ethiophian or Eritrean stores, even on the internet. However to mix your own Berbere you need:Berbere
spice mix
1/3 cup New Mexico chile powder
1/4 cup paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons black cardamom seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon whole allspice
4 cloves
1 small stick cinnamon
Directions:
For the berbere (spice mix): Whisk together the chile powder, paprika, cayenne, ginger, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and nutmeg. Set aside.
Put the cardamom, coriander, fenugreek, allspice, cloves and cinnamon in a small skillet and toast over medium-low heat, shaking the pan regularly, until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Cool slightly.
Grind the toasted spices in a spice grinder to a fine powder. Add to the chile powder mixture and whisk to combine. Sift the spice mixture onto a piece of parchment paper, return to the bowl and whisk again. Return the pieces left in the sifter to the spice grinder and grind again as finely as possible; whisk into the spice mixture. Set aside.