Injera

For the Kenyan rugby player, see Collins Injera.

This meal, consisting of injera and several kinds of wat or tsebhi (stew), is typical of Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine.

Injera (Amharic, Tigrinya: እንጀራ, pronounced [ɨndʒəra], sometimes transliterated enjera; Oromo: budenaa; Somali: canjeero) is a yeast-risen flatbread with a unique, slightly spongy texture. Traditionally made out of teff flour,^[1] it is a national dish in Ethiopia and Eritrea. A similar variant is eaten in Somalia (where it is called canjeero or lahooh) and Yemen (where it is known as lahoh).

Ingredients and cooking method

Canjeero, the Somali version of injera, is a staple of Somali cuisine.

The most valued grain used to make injera is from the tiny, iron-rich teff. However, its production is limited to certain middle elevations and regions with adequate rainfall, so it is relatively expensive for the average household. Because the overwhelming majority of highland Ethiopians are poor farming households that grow their own subsistence grain, wheat, barley, corn, and/or rice flour are sometimes used to replace some or all of the teff content. There are also different varieties of injera in Ethiopia, such as nech (white), kay (red) and tikur (black).

In making injera, teff flour is mixed with water and allowed to ferment for several days, as with sourdough starter. As a result of this process, injera has a mildly sour taste. The injera is then ready to bake into large flat pancakes, done either on a specialized electric stove or, more commonly, on a clay plate (Amharic mittad, Tigrinya mogogo) placed over a fire. Unusual for a yeast bread, the dough has sufficient liquidity to be poured onto the baking surface, rather than rolled out. In terms of shape, injera compares to the French crêpe and the South Indian dosai as a flatbread cooked in a circle and used as a base for other foods. The taste and texture, however, are unique and unlike the crêpe and dosai. The bottom surface of the injera, which touches the heating surface, will have a relatively smooth texture, while the top will become porous. This porous structure allows the injera to be a good bread to scoop up sauces and dishes.

Consumption

In Eritrea & Ethiopia, a variety of stews, sometimes salads (during Ethiopian Orthodox fasting, for which believers abstain from most animal products) or simply more injera (called injera firfir), are placed upon the injera for serving. Using one's right hand, small pieces of injera are torn and used to grasp the stews and salads for eating. The injera under these stews soaks up the juices and flavours of the foods and, after the stews and salads are gone, this bread is also consumed. Injera is thus simultaneously food, eating utensil, and plate. When the entire "tablecloth" of injera is gone, the meal is over.

In Somalia, at lunch (referred to as qaddo), the main meal of the day, injera might also be eaten with a stew (maraq) or soup.^[2]:113

Contemporary use

Injera figures prominently in Yemeni cuisine, where it is known as lahoh.

In Eritrea and Ethiopia, injera is eaten daily in virtually every household. Preparing injera requires considerable time and resources. The bread is cooked on a large, black, clay plate over a fire. This set-up is a stove called a mitad (in Amharic) or mogogo (in Tigrinya), which is difficult to use, produces large amounts of smoke, and can be dangerous to children. Because of this inefficient cooking method, much of the area's limited fuel resources are wasted. However in 2003, a research group was given the Ashden award^[3] for designing a new type of stove^[4] for cooking injera. The new stove uses available fuel sources (including dung, locally called kubet) for cooking injera and other foods efficiently, saving the heat from the fuel. Several parts are made in the central cities of each country, while other parts are molded from clay by women of local areas.

Outside of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Plateau, injera may be found in groceries and restaurants specializing in Eritrean, Ethiopian, or Somali foods.

See also

• Cuisine of Eritrea
• Cuisine of Ethiopia
• Cuisine of Somalia
• Cuisine of Yemen
• Lahoh
• Dosa

References

1. ^ Science of Bread: Ethiopian injera recipe
2. ^ Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi (2001), "5: Cuisine and Traditional Dress", Culture and customs of Somalia, Culture and Customs of Africa, Westport, CT: Greenwood, ISBN 0-313-31333-4, ISSN 1530-8367, http://books.google.com/books?id=2Nu918tYMB8C&lpg=PP1&dq=Culture%20and%20Customs%20of%20Somalia&pg=PA109#v=onepage&f=false, retrieved 2010-08-13, "Injera, known in the north as lahooh, is a thin pancake that is made from batter poured in a circular pattern starting in the center of a hot greased pan..... Sorghum is the preferred flour for making injera, which is common in the countries of the Horn." 
3. ^ Ashden awards: injera bread stove
4. ^ Pictures of the improved Injera stoves

External links

• Mesob Across America: Ethiopian Food in the U.S.A. A book about the history and culture of Ethiopian cuisine
• Ethiopian Food: Mesob Across America A blog about Ethiopian food
• Ethiopian Restaurant Guide Includes video visits to some restaurants
• Ashden awards: injera bread stove