For the Kenyan rugby player, see Collins Injera. Eragrostis tef, also known as teff, an fermented buckwheat bread grain from the highlands of Ethiopia, which are ground into flour, and water. There is little written or known about teff’s origin and while there is no scholarly consensus, some believe that the production of teff dates back as far as 4000 BC. Batter is poured rapidly in a spiral from the outside inwards.
To make injera, teff flour is mixed with water. The fermentation process is triggered by adding ersho, a clear, yellow liquid that accumulates on the surface of fermenting teff flour batter and is collected from previous fermentations. The baking method for injera has changed little since its origin. Traditionally, the flour is mixed with water and fermented. It is baked by pouring the mixture onto a large circular griddle, known as a mitad.
Injera being cooked on a griddle. The injera is baked into large, flat and round pieces. The dough’s viscosity allows it to be poured onto the baking surface, rather than rolled out, which is unusual for a yeast or sourdough bread. In terms of shape, injera compares to the French crêpe and the Indian dosa as a flatbread cooked in a circle and used as a base for other foods.
In taste and texture, it is more similar to the South Indian appam. Baking is done on a circular griddle – either a large black clay plate over a fire or a specialized electric stove. Mitads have been found at archaeological sites dating back as far as 600 AD. Nowadays, mitads are no longer always made out of clay, and can also be electric. Traditional clay stoves can be inefficient in that they consume large amounts of firewood and produce a lot of smoke, creating household pollution and making them dangerous to use around children.
In 2003, an Eritrean research group designed a stove for cooking injera and other foods that uses more easily available fuel, such as twigs instead of large branches, crop residues and dung, locally called kubet. Woman checking the baking of an injera in her house. Many women in urban areas—especially those living outside Ethiopia and Eritrea—now use electric injera stoves, which are topped with a large metal plate, or simply non-stick frying pans. In Ethiopia and Eritrea, injera is eaten daily in virtually every household.
