Injera - Ethiopian Flatbread

Injera is an East African sourdough-risen flatbread with a unique, slightly spongy texture and it is a traditional part of any Ethiopian meal. The batter for injera is usually left to ferment over a number of days before it’s used to make the flatbread. Injera is typically made with teff, which has been a staple of Ethiopian cooking for centuries.
To make it more affordable, I have used half of buckwheat in place of teff flour. You can replace it with millet, barley or sorghum flour. There are two types of teff flour: brown/red teff flour and ivory/white teff flour. You can use either, or a mix of two. Brown teff has a more pronounced, earthy and nutty flavor, while ivory teff is slightly sweeter and milder. I used ivory teff flour for the recipe. Just keep in mind that both the texture and colour of the injera will vary greatly depending on what kind of teff you use and whether or not you’re combining it with other flours. Injera is traditionally cooked on only one side, so there’s no need to flip. Traditionally, injera is eaten with the right hand, without the use of cutlery, but if you insist on using fork and knife like my husband, that's fine too.

120 g Ivory teff flour
120 g Buckwheat flour
1 l+120 ml Water or as needed
0.5 g Dry active yeast, optional
1 tsp Sea salt

Add the teff flour, buckwheat flour and yeast, if using, together in a bowl. Add 720 ml of warm water to the mixture and whisk until smooth. Cover the bowl loosely with a plastic wrap on the bowl and let it sit in a dry area undisturbed at room temperature for 3-5 days to ferment the batter.
Carefully pour off and discard the water that has risen to the top of the batter. Add the salt to the batter and use a spoon to mix the batter.
In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and stir in 1/2 cup of the injera batter, whisking constantly until it has thickened. Let the paste cool to room temperature.
Use a spoon to scoop the paste into the uncooked batter and mix until smooth. Add some water to the batter to thin it out to the consistency of crepe batter. I added 120 ml water with one batch, another batch with 200 ml, but you may need to add more or less water, depending on how much water you poured off the batter.
Cover the batter and set aside for 45-60 minutes until a lot of bubbles form at the top of the batter.
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Spread the bottom of the skillet with the injera batter. Cook the batter until the edges become firm and a lot of bubbles form at the top, 30 seconds. Cover the pan with a lid and let the batter cook for another 45 seconds. Don’t flip it over as it is only supposed to be cooked on one side.
When it's ready the injera will be firm and spongy throughout and bubbles will be at the top of it. Carefully slide the cooked injera off the pan and onto parchment paper between flatbreads so they don’t stick together. To serve, lay injera on a plate and ladle food on top, or serve injera on the side to scoop up food.

3 comments:

DEZMOND 1/9/25 13:18: Lemme grab my ivory telf flour which I always keep on hand LOL Joking aside, they do look lovely with those lil holes.... I was actually looking last night for a recipe for Aripe South American flat breads because they are with corn flour but I am afraid to try them out because just corn flour and water seems dry to me.
Tom 1/9/25 13:30: ...Angie, once again you have created unexpected treat!
Anonymous 1/9/25 15:26: Nice -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com