Making Injera!!!

Well we've been on the waiting list since April 7th.  I got an email about a month later to say that our dossier was in Ethiopia.  It took about four emails back and forth (asking the same question every time) to discover that we had been on the waiting list for a month already!  I was greatly mistaken as to how things work.  I was under the impression that our dossier, once approved by Holt, would then be sent to Ethiopia to be processed and translated.  Well my friends, turns out we get on the waiting list as soon as Holt has approved it! It was within days of them receiving it.  Then they sent it to the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington D. C. to be translated and processed.  Geez Louise! So as we sit and patiently wait to get that phone call, I decided I needed to start perfecting my Ethiopian cooking....that is learn how.

So here we are, day two on my journey to make injera, the sour spongy flat bread that is the staple (and plate) of all Ethiopian dishes.  If you look back at other blogs, you may be able to see some in pictures of us at restaurants.  It is made from Teff flour and it comes in different shades of brown.  Most of the injera you get at a restaurant in the States is a very pale color, almost ivory.  However, the teff I was able to buy is a much darker color.  So don't get confused! 

I started off Friday evening looking at videos on Youtube of various people making injera, nearly all of them were simply cooking it, not making the batter.  Then I watched the step by step videos of an adoptive Ethiopian mother making it from start to finish.  She said that she learned from an Ethiopian woman but let me tell you, her way was very different from that of the Ethiopians I saw making it on Youtube.  Originally hers was the only process I knew of and was planning to follow it.  So I decided that this darling woman's method was not the only method out there.  I began searching other sites and found a woman that had combined a few methods and came up with a simple one.  You can find it 3here.

So like any good blogger/chef, I took lots of pictures to document what I did.  My first attempt on Saturday was a total fail and I'm pretty sure it's for one or two reasons.  #1 I let the batter rise for way too long

#2 My pan had sides that went straight up and not curved.  Now I only intended to let the batter rise for 5-6 hours like the recipe says but I went to the store with about 1 1/2 hours left and came back 3 1/2 hours later :(  As for my pan, I was using my really nice "everything slides out so easy and it has a lid" pan. 



See how nice it is?



But with the straight up sides combined with the batter that rose too long, I ended up with this...



crusty on the outsides and mushy in the middle

Everything I've read says that your first one (or two) could end up in disaster so I was ok...until the second one....



As you can see, it's burnt on the bottom.  There are also supposed to be a lot of little holes all over the top.  On to number 3...

As you can see it stuck to the pan, was undercooked inside and was just plain awful.

So I decided to try again today (Sunday) and this time I set an alarm for 5 hours.  Well this time, the first one turned out nearly perfect!



Just look at those bubbles!



Just like the picture on the website :)

I do believe my success is due to only letting the batter rise for the minimum time of 5 hours AND using my smaller pan with sloped sides



I had to use a lid from a pot that I have but it worked.

I realised that yesterday I was probably using too much batter so I used less today...it's a smaller skillet anyways.  However, I think I was so afraid I would use too much that I started using not enough.  I also think that the pan was getting hotter than it needed to be.

This is number 4 or 5, as I said, there's supposed to be bubbles but not all the way through!! I think I may have fixed it for the very last one...

top



bottom

So you see I'm getting much better!!  You're supposed to reserve 1/4 cup of the batter for your "starter" next time but since this only made six small injera, I saved twice that.  Typically injera is about 20 inches in diameter...these are more like 8 inches. 

So my next step is to find some fenugreek online (since I can't find any in this tiny town) so that I can make Doro Wat (mmmmm chicken) and I would like to also try making Miser Alecha a delicious lentil dish.  And believe me, I never liked lentils before eating this!

I'll keep you posted on the adoption of course but also of my adventures in Ethiopian cooking!!