One of my favourite parts of Ethiopian food has always been injera. Ethiopian food is usually served up on a plate covered with this deliciously sour flat bread and you simply tear off pieces and use it to pick up and eat the curries. It is not a keto food, being made of teff flour, sometimes combined with barley flour, but teff is a highly nutritious grain, along with barley, and the process of making it introduces healthy gut bacteria thanks to the fermentation, making it a great choice to include in a carb-up meal.
Carb-Up Injera (Ethiopian Sourdough Flat Bread) Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups teff flour, brown or ivory (Or substitute a portion of it with some barley flour(If you're new to making injera, a combination of teff and barley is easier to work with.)
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1¼ cups water
Directions:
Stir yeast into to 1½ cups lukewarm water until dissolved. Stir in your teff flour (and barley flour if using). Work the flour into the water until you get a thick paste. Use the remaining water to clean off the sides of the bowl. You should have around ½ cm of water on top of the batter after cleaning. Cover with a tea towel or cheese cloth and let the mixture sit undisturbed at room temperature for 24-48 hours.
Uncover and stir the mixture together. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Measure out ½ cup injera mixture in a 1 cup heat-safe measuring cup. Once the water begins to boil, pour half of it into the injera mixture and whisk together. Pour the contents of the cup into the pot with the rest of the boiling water, whisking constantly. Turn off the stove but keep stirring. Add ¼ cup more water to the measuring cup to clean out the rest of the mixture. Pour into the pot and keep stirring until it cools to lukewarm.
Pour cooled injera mixture ("absit") back into the main mixture and whisk together well. Use a touch of water to clean down the sides again. Cover with the tea towel or cheesecloth once again and allow to rest another 24-36 hours. The longer it ferments, the deeper the flavour. Place the bowl on a plate in case the fermentation causes it to overflow.
Pour out excess water into a separate cup and set aside. Stir the batter and check the thickness. You want it to be around the thickness of crepe batter (thinner than pancake batter). Stir the water you poured out a little at a time back in to thin the batter to the desired level.
Heat a lightly greased skillet or crepe pan to medium-low. Pour the batter in a circular motion from outside to inside. Cover with a lid to help the top cook evenly. The injera is cooked when it is no longer wet and the top is bubbly/spongy. Gently loosen the injera with a spatula and place it on parchment paper on a cooling rack while you make the next round. Repeat until all the dough has been cooked.
Serve with your favourite Ethiopian dishes, such as yasa tibbs, atkilt, or gomen wat. To store, roll up the paper and put each roll into a sealed bag and store in a cool, dark place for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Did you make this carb-up injera (Ethiopian sourdough flat bread) recipe? If so, please let me know how it turned out in the comments. Or if you share pics of your creations on Instagram, please tag me so I can see them. Enjoy!
