Abesha - Powered by Injera

"Qu'ils Mangent de la Brioche!" - "Let them eat cake!" Marie Antoinette famously said when the people had no bread (as it turns out, no she did not say that, see: Marie Antoinette Never Said “Let Them Eat Cake”). But never mind. I like my bread, in all its forms. My favourite? The Ethiopian injera bread that fuels the entire abesha (i.e. Ethiopian) nation.

Fresh injera, right off the metad (stove)...

Injera is the Ethiopian large flat "pancake style" bread with a slightly spongy texture and mildly sour taste. In Ethiopia, injera is eaten daily in virtually every household. Ours too - having grown up on injera, either eating it with Ethiopian dishes; or crispy and covered in oily oozy berbere spiciness (known as kategna); or simply by sprinkling some salt on it; I've always loved every last bite. So this is a post dedicated to the unique and very distinct injera. You won't find anything like it in any other part of the world.

Injera in the making...

Made from the grain teff which grows in the Ethiopian highlands, injera is rich in iron and very filling. To make injera, teff flour is mixed with water to make a very liquid dough, and left to ferment for a few days (fermentation, yes - hence the sour taste).

The very liquid teff dough being poured onto the metad to make injera

The liquid dough is then ready to be cooked on a large clay plate placed over a fire, or on a specialised electric stove fitted with a clay plate, known as a metad. The liquid dough is poured onto the metad in circular motion into a thin layer, covered, and left to cook for a few minutes.

Almost ready...

As a child I would pour the teff mixture into different shapes to make star or heart-shaped injera. Today I also decided to make my own special injera ;)

AidCom Injera

Injera is traditionally placed onto a large circular tray, and curries/stews or meat/veg dishes are in turn placed onto the injera, and people will eat from the same large tray. An additional injera is used to scoop the curries/stews or meat/veg dishes up with one's fingers, and then placed into one's mouth. As such, injera serves both as food and eating utensil in one.

Gurshas in the making

Etiquette dictates that the "scooping"must be done with one hand only (generally the right hand) and when the food is placed in the mouth one must not let one's fingers touch their mouth. This is because the tray of food is being shared by a  number of people and is therefore a question of hygiene. The forming of a morsel of food in one's hand to then have a mouthful is known as the gursha - it is a sign of respect and or/warmth to be given a gursha by someone else. It can be somewhat disturbing to a westerner to have someone place food in you mouth using their hands - I get it. But when my mum gives me a gursha, it really does make me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside :) So distinct and yummy is injera that it had a starring role in a Simpson's episode, see: The Simpson's "Ethiopia Moment".