Making the injera is a 5 to 7 day process. It’s not complicated or hard, just takes a little bit of time. To start you mix Teff flour, water and a little yeast. The goo sits on your counter and in a couple of days you feed it some more Teff and water. This is my goo separated in layers before I stirred it up and fed it.
After the feeding.
The smell that this gives off is wierd. I thought it smelled like apples starting to go bad. Scott thought it smelled a little grassy. Once the goo had fermented for 5 days, more water and some self raising flour were added, there was some more resting time and then it was time to make the injera. You cook them like a crepe, pouring the batter into the pan, then swirling it around to cover the bottom. The injera are only cooked on one side, and as they cool, they soften and get a little spongy. In a good way.
Mary went above and beyond her host duties, and also gave us some recipes to make Ethiopian dishes to go with the Injera. I made Mary’s Wot (stew), Ayib Be Gomen (greens with cottage cheese), Niter-Kebbeh (spiced butter) and Berbere (spice mixture). The last 2 are the seasonings for the dishes.
We invited my parents over for the dinner. You are supposed to eat Ethiopian food with your hand, using the Injera bread to scoop up the food. I put out cutlery because I didn’t think my dad would eat with his hands. In fact my mom was the only one to use a fork. Don’t worry, we picked on her.
The bread was so great - soft and chewy, and the flavor was quite mild - the stinkyness had all gone away. It was a fun, delicious dinner.
Please go and visit Mary for all the recipes.
You want to make this, trust me.
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