COPPERInjera recipe
A teff flatbread whose bubbled surface comes from an ersho starter and from absit, a cooked portion of its own batter stirred back in.
Ingredients
- 500 g teff flour
- 200 ml ersho starter
- 1500 ml water
- 1 tsp salt
How to make Injera
- Three days ahead, make the ersho: whisk 500 g teff flour into 1500 ml water, cover loosely and leave at room temperature until it bubbles and a clear yellow liquid separates on top.
- Whisk 500 g teff flour into 1 litre of water until completely smooth, then stir in the ersho liquid.
- Cover and ferment 24 to 72 hours at room temperature, until the batter smells sharply sour and the surface is dotted with bubbles; pour off the dark water that rises.
- Make the absit: take about a tenth of the batter, mix it with three times its volume of water and boil, stirring, until it thickens into a paste.
- Cool the absit to lukewarm, around 45 °C, stir it back into the batter with 1 teaspoon of salt, and let it rise again 30 minutes to 2 hours.
- Thin with water until the batter pours like thin cream.
- Heat a wide clay mitad or a large non-stick pan over medium heat, with no fat at all.
- Pour about 500 ml of batter in a spiral from the outside inwards, cover at once and cook 2 to 4 minutes. Never flip it: the top must stay porous with open eyes, the underside smooth.
- Lift onto a cloth and let it cool flat before stacking. Expect the first batches to be flat in flavour until your ersho gets strong over several rounds.
What is Injera?
Injera is a traditional dish from Eritrea, boiled, and takes about 4 days and 2 hours from start to finish. It is built around teff flour and ersho starter. The recipe below uses 4 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Injera take?
At 5880 minutes it is slower than 99% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. The method runs to 9 steps, the longest being 30 minutes.
Any tips for making Injera?
Never flip injera: cover it as soon as the batter is poured so the top stays porous with open eyes and the underside smooth.
How Injera compares
At 4 days and 2 hours, Injera is among the 10 longest of the 586 dishes Copper documents. Hard to find elsewhere: teff flour (1) and ersho starter (1).
Copper documents Eritrea alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.