Injera: Ethiopia’s Staple Bread

If you go to Ethiopia or to an Ethiopian restaurant, you will come across a flat, spongy, bread that always accompanies your meal. You will find out that it is almost impossible to have a meal without Injera either in urban or rural areas of Ethiopia. Injera is unique to Ethiopia and Ethiopians are quite serious about it. Ethiopians in diaspora either prepare Injera in their houses, buy it from an Ethiopian grocery, or ask their relatives in Ethiopia to send them. Wherever there are significant number of Ethiopians, it is natural to find an Ethiopian restaurant.

For most non-Ethiopians, the Injera eating experience is very unforgettable. When served with the traditional Ethiopian stews, it is delicious.

The Injera experience in Ethiopia can be similar to the Tortilla experience in Mexico. People love Injera. In most cases, Injera’s purpose is not only to fill the stomach but also to bring people together. Family members sit around the table and eat cheerfully. In most traditional houses people do not eat alone. Also children might not be allowed to sit together with elders. This is not to disempower children but to teach them disciplines so they respect their elders.

Injera is made with teff, tiny grains that grow in different parts of Ethiopia.

Symbolically, Injera represents someone’s future or career. When they say, for example, “injera wotalat,” it means she became successful (or rich) or she got a wonderful job. This meaning can apply to anyone but usually it is used to refer to someone who comes from a humble background.

Injera also has other significance. For example, let say one person wants to purchase a house. One finds a seller. And the buyer and the seller agree on price. But the buyer might not be ready to pay right away. He or she assures to come back. But before one leaves the house, one asks the seller to bring Injera. So both individuals sit together and eat the Injera, marking that their deal is binding. The Injera serves as a witness and a promise keeper if in case one of them changes his or her mind later.

The most interesting aspect of injera is its making. It is not as easy as baking a pancake. There are different steps to making Injera, starting from fermentation to baking. Injera’s preparation can take two to three days. After this arduous journey, Ethiopian mothers bake Injera perfectly.

Here is a simple Injera recipe:

99% Teff & 1% Self-Rising Yeast – No Preservatives or Oil
Serving for 2 people, yields 5 to 6 Injera…

1 lb – of Teff Flour
3 cups of luke warm water
1 teaspoon of yeast *
– a large bowl, for mixing
– large pancake pan, for baking

1. Mix by hand, 1lb of Teff with 3 cups of water along with 1 teaspoon of yeast.

2. Set aside overnight (24 hrs) outside. For fermentation to take place.

3. Preheat pan, and leave on low fire/heat during baking.
4. Bake in a circular motion, same as a pancake. Only heated on one side, takes about 2 minutes.

5. Take injera out carefully (hot) and set aside on a plate to cool down before eating.
* If this is your first batch of injera, use the teaspoon of yeast; but if you plan to make injera regularly… then save about 3 soup spoons of the mix for your next injera. This will act as a self rising yeast on your next batch of injera; save it in your fridge it will stay for over a month. This is the same process of saving some of your current dough for your next batch of sour dough cakes or cookies.

Source

The traditional way of baking Injera causes a lot of health related problems to Ethiopian mothers:

* Bronchitis
* Problems with the eyes
* Exhaustion
* Burning sensation, etc.

There have been technological advances in preparing Injera. The following video, though in Amharic language, presents an Ethiopian engineer who managed to invent a machine that takes care of the making of Injera, including fermenting the dough and baking it.

Please click here to view the video

The machine, according to the inventor, produces about 1000 Injera per hour. It also eliminates health related problems. FDA has already approved this machine and there are companies, such as Zelalem Injera, that are using it to prepare and distribute Injera to the Ethiopian community across the United States. Hopefully, this machine will make it to Ethiopia and Ethiopian mothers will not have to go through the difficult process of making Injera.