On the Chocolate Trail

Enjoy this naturally fermented Ethiopian bread to scoop up foods or as an accompaniment to a meal.

Ingredients:

4 cups/600 grams teff flour

5 cups/1135 grams water, plus more as needed

Directions:

1. Whisk the teff flour and water together in a large bowl until a smooth batter forms. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, allowing space between the plastic wrap and the water (the fermentation process needs air.)
2. Let the batter sit at room temperature until it is foamy and fragrant, about 24 hours. Keep the bowl covered and do not stir it.
3. After 24 hours, uncover the batter and if there is water on top, pour it off and throw it away. Do not pour any of the batter away. Whisk the batter until smooth, like the consistency of a thick pancake batter. If it’s really thick, add water.
4. Organize parchment paper to place between the injera as each comes off the heat; also, set up a cooling rack.
5. Ladle 3/4 cup of the batter into a very hot 12 inch non-stick skillet. Quickly pour the batter starting in the middle of the pan and working around in a circle. Spiral the skillet around to distribute the batter evenly and don’t add batter to fill gaps.
6. The surface will bubble at about 30 seconds. Cover with a lid to allow the injera to lose its glossy surface, about 2 minutes. Lower the temperature if needed to avoid burning the injera. If there’s a lot of condensation on the lid, remove it and wipe it down and return it to pan.
7. Drop the injera from the pan onto the cooling rack or remove with a spatula.
8. Repeat until the batter is gone. When pancakes are cool, stack them onto a lovely cloth for serving immediately. I like to freeze them so I layer them with parchment paper. They keep in the frig for a day or so.

Based on recipe by Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez, from Hiyaw.