How to Make Ethiopian Injera Bread

Photo: (lower center) A waiter at the Addis Ababa Restaurant in Ethiopia opens a wicker cover
from a circular basket table with a wonderful spread of injera bread.

A common thread in much of the cuisine of Africa is the stew and bread combination. This can be found from the fufu and stew dishes of West Africa to the stew, or wat, of Ethiopia that is served with the unique rounds of injera bread.

The injera bread is the equivalent of the tortilla to a Mexican and rice to a Chinese. It is traditionally made of teff, a flour milled from a specially high grade of millet. It is a flat bread that is cooked like a giant pancake on a covered ceramic griddle. The injera cook pours the injera batter on a hot griddle in a circular fashion, from the outside inward. The griddle is then covered with a lid.  The edges of the covered griddle imay then be additionally sealed with the a damp towel. In minutes the injera is ready. Below is an excellent instructional video illustrating how to make injera from the more commonly found flour used outside of Ethiopia.

SERVING INJERA BREAD

Once injera is made it is often stored in quantity for a few days for an average family. When serving the bread, stew, or wat, will be poured over the injera along with other side dishes, such as vegetables and lentils. Dinners will tear off pieces of the bread with their fingers and garnish it with wat.

The culinary tradition of Ethiopia offers its participants an opportunity to partake in a highly ritualistic experience. This will begin by the formal washing of hands that occurs before a formal dinner to the serving of traditional Ethiopian coffee at the end of a meal.

One of the romantic rituals of Ethiopian dining occurs when a companion chooses an attractive morsel of food, served in injera bread to the mouth of an intimate other. The spicy stew may be enjoyed with the traditional Ethiopian honey wine, the tej drink. If you have never enjoyed injera, look for a local Ethiopian restaurant in your city to start off your journey towards learning to prepare this traditional African bread.