Injera

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 water for boiling
Plus extra water for thinning to desired consistency

Directions:

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)

Ingredients:

8 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)

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 tablespoon tomato paste

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)

1/2 cup Shiro powder (can be bought in Ethiopian and Eritrean stores or on the internet)

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)

1.5 cups dry split red lentils

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

Ingredients: 

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.