I want to make injera
Posted by isaytomatoes on Oct 31, 2009 · Member since Jun 2009 · 209 posts
I absolutely crave Ethiopian injera (though no one else in my family does ). For now, one of my Ethiopian English students (I teach adult ESL) sells me her home made injera about once a week when our classes are in session. But we're going to have an extended winter break, courtesy of the bad economy, this year, so I am trying to make injera at home.
I found instructions online and have started trying to make the starter, but it seems incredibly complicated, and I'm not sure I can pull it off or keep the starter alive down the line.
Has anyone else ever tried this, and did it work?
I guess if I get in real trouble I should ask my student for a lesson in injera making, and maybe she'll just give me some of her own starter.
Day 2, and my flour+ water starter is rising and bubbling and smelling slightly sweet. I think that' s good so far.
My problem is that I see online recipes that range from just use it to cook on day 3 to feed and divide it for 3 weeks. Some insist you need to run it through a blender, though this doesn't sound like something your typical rural Ethiopian would be doing... I'm wanting to try this sooner rather than later, and I'm confused by all the different approaches.
i feel your pain. i tried to make injera and i could not find an appropriate recipe. i think it is supposed to just be teff+water, but apparently you have to do it differently in the US (so said some video i watched about it)? i used a teff+water only recipe and it sucked. BUT i didn't finish making them bc it sucked so much and the teff+water seemed to easily create a nice starter.
seems like you are on the right track. sorry for the non-information.
I decided to experiment. The simplest recipes have me feeding it after only 24 hours, so I divided what I had and added teff and water to one of the batches to start daily feedings. I'll let the other batch ferment longer before adding anything. I tasted it, and I get a slightly yeasty flavor, no sourness. So maybe I can tell when it's ready by tasting it.
How hard can this be? I'm sure the first injera makers used taste-tests...right?
Sounds a lot like sourdough starter.
I keep sourdough starter in my fridge becuase that source of yeast is a heck of a lot less expensive then those little packages.
Sourdough starter is easy, to start it you just mix 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup water (I use whole wheat flour) and let it sit in a warm place for about 3 days. That gets the fermentation started. Once it is bubbly it is ready, you can make bread from that or put it in the fridge where it will live. Make sure you keep it in a Non-metal container and the lid is not tightly closed to let gas escape (I learned this the hard way, believe me).
It stays alive for like forever, you just have to make sure that you either use it once a week or feed it once a week. More is okay, less is okay, but it may starve if you go less so that is a good general rule of thumb.
When you need to make your bread just take it out, put it in a plastic or glass bowl (non-metal) and mix 1 cup water and 1 cup flour with it and leave it over night. Next day, take out 1 cup of it, put it back in its container back in the fridge. What is left in the bowl should be 2 cups worth of bubbly "sponge". (probably is more due to air bubbles in it)
To that sponge you add your 4 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup oil, 3 cups white flour, and whatever else (flax seeds, raisons, etc. or nothing more) and then go from there. At this point I usually put it in the bread machine and let it do the rest for me.
sounds like injers works the same way only with "teff" flour rather than wheat flour.
Never had this bread before, any specific recipe you are working from? Also, I think teff is GF? Must check on that, if so I may try making this.
Well, my starter was going great guns at first, but I got distracted by all the different online approaches to making it. I decided to go by taste, so i took some out and cooked it--not quite sour enough. After I did that, my starter died. Just died. No bubbles.
I gave up and tried a recipe that cheats, using club soda and lemon juice. It just isn't quite right.
I'm probably spoiled by the authentic stuff my Ethiopian students bring me. But I've really got to learn to make my own sometime.
http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/injera.html
Am going to try this on Sun, it seems pretty straight foreword. Does this seem authentic to you? Some recipes I found said to make your own starter with teff and water, waiting up to a week, others seemed ok with using regular yeast to get the fermentation going quicker. Am not sure if it is entirely authentic, but it sounds good to me. Can't wait to try it out. Will let you know how it turns out.
GFVmom, The fermentation period seems too short in that recipe. My starter took more than 3 days to begin turning sour. Injera has a sour, almost lemon-like flavor.
On the other hand, maybe by using commercial yeast, the process is shortened? I may give it a try, too.
I recommend using water in the 70-78 degree F range.
GFVegmom, I started the process you mentioned last night and will give it a taste test tonite. If it isn't sour, I'll give it another test Monday. Let me know what happens with your starter.
I tried the 24-hour recipe. The resulting injera has a nice flavor, but it is completely lacking the lemony sourness it should have. I'm going to give it another day or two and see if that develops.
GFVegmom, how is your experiment going?
Oh, wait! This morning I'm getting a sour flavor. But somehow it isn't quite right. The flavor isn't quite right, and the texture isn't quite spongy and flubbery enough...
I consulted my Ethiopian students who make injera, and this is what they told me to do (I think; they are beginning English speakers and I don't know Oromo).
At night, mix about 1/2 bag self rising bread flour, 1 handful white cornmeal, and 2 handfuls teff flour with medium-warm water (I forgot to ask amount, but enough to make a thin batter), cover and let sit on counter overnight. In the morning make injera. They swore I need a pricey, electric, nonstick injera maker to pull this off. I said wait a minute, what did they make injera in 100 years ago, and they said a ceramic griddle of some kind. The injera maker comes with a cover for steaming the top side of the injera.
This is all very different from what i remember when another Ethiopian student taught me to make injera 20 years ago. She gave me a refrigerated sourdough starter that I had to feed once a month I think, and she showed me how to make the injera in a nonstick frying pan on the stove top. My current students say with modern flours here in the U.S. all that is unnecessary.
I'm still confused.
OMG, it works!
OMG, it works!
Which part?
I made the batter the way my Ethiopian student told me to, even though it sounded weird. I used 1 handful white cornmeal, 2 handfuls teff, 1/4 bag self rising flour, warm water, cooked in 8 hours.
What I wonder now is how it would be with 100% teff?
I also wonder about more traditional approaches to making injera and whether it was once 100% teff.
I made mine with all teff and they were ok, not great but I had never had them before. Teff has a very strong flavor all by itself, I bet the mix with cornmeal and SR flour is better, I just can't have the flour. Bummer, but glad it worked for you.
Just found this thread via google because I've been desperately trying -- and miserably failing -- to make injera for more than a year now. Would love to try this formula with the cornmeal since it sounds like you've had success! Any change you could offer up some more details? How much self-rising flour is it compared to the cornmeal and teff? And how much water did you add? Thanks for any details you can offer! Onward towards injera!
Well, I have a confession to make; it still wasn't right, even when I thought it was getting there. My Ethiopian students rescued me and provided me with starter and a refresher lesson. I'm not sure if any sourdough starter would work the same, but you add the injera starter from the fridge s to about half a bag of self-rising flour, a couple of handfuls of white cornmeal, and warm water, mixing with your hands to make a dough that you knead vigorously for maybe 5+ minutes. Then gradually add warm water, still mixing with hands, until the batter is a soupy consistency. Put that in a covered container on the counter and don't touch it for about 12 hours. After 12 hours, cook this on a very hot griddle with a cover on it. I used cast iron with not so great results. An Eritrean student once showed me how to cook it on a nonstick skillet. Or you can buy the real deal, a nonstick electric injera machine to cook them on. Be sure to save about 3/4 cup of the injera batter to use as starter next time. Only trouble is, it has to be used within 7 days. I managed to kill mine with neglect over the holidays. :-[
I want to add that when I asked the Ethiopian women how to make injera the *first time*, when I don't have any starter, they laughed at me.
Well, I have a confession to make; it still wasn't right, even when I thought it was getting there. My Ethiopian students rescued me and provided me with starter and a refresher lesson. I'm not sure if any sourdough starter would work the same, but you add the injera starter from the fridge s to about half a bag of self-rising flour, a couple of handfuls of white cornmeal, and warm water, mixing with your hands to make a dough that you knead vigorously for maybe 5+ minutes. Then gradually add warm water, still mixing with hands, until the batter is a soupy consistency. Put that in a covered container on the counter and don't touch it for about 12 hours. After 12 hours, cook this on a very hot griddle with a cover on it. I used cast iron with not so great results. An Eritrean student once showed me how to cook it on a nonstick skillet. Or you can buy the real deal, a nonstick electric injera machine to cook them on. Be sure to save about 3/4 cup of the injera batter to use as starter next time. Only trouble is, it has to be used within 7 days. I managed to kill mine with neglect over the holidays. :-[
I assume you have central heating. We have no heat in our house at all. OK, so Sevilla never gets down to freezing, but it gets cold! Would the starter "work" (ferment) anyway, do you think? All this talk makes me wanna try it.
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