These wonderfully soft and mildly sour pancakes from Eritrea have a unique, slightly spongy texture.
Injeera are traditionally made using “teff”, an iron-rich gluten-free flour. Teff is not widely available, so here is Selam’s recipe using standard rice and wheat flour.
We were introduced to Selam through the wonderful support worker team at Ashley Housing. Selam and her friend, also called Selam cooked a wonderful Eritrean lunch for us at their house, which included Injeera pancakes. A couple of hours of chatting, eating, learning, and swapping stories later, and we left as firm friends.
Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp active yeast
1 litre warm water
100ml boiling water
frying pan
jug
- In a large mixing bowl pour in the dried yeast
- Add to this around 300ml of warm water and mix
- Now add both the flours and mix again -you may need to add more water to make it a thick runny consistency
- Cover the bowl with cling film and leave at room temperature for one hour. When it’s ready, you will see that the mixture has risen.
- Remove and set aside the cling film wrap, add half a cup of boiling water and mix in. Re-cover the bowl and leave for a further 10 minutes
- Place a little oil on a dry cloth and rub the oil onto the surface of a frying pan. Heat the pan until it is nice and hot.
- When you’re ready to cook, pour the injeera batter into a small jug and slowly pour a thin layer of the mixture into the pan in a spiraling circular motion, until you reach the middle.
- Wait for about one minute, then lightly cover the pan while the pancake cooks.
- After two minutes the pancake is ready. Slide onto a plate, and pour in the next one
To serve, roll each pancake and place in a pile at the centre of your table.=
Can be eaten with a daal or curry – why not try our recipe for Eritrean Zigny, a spicy stew. To eat, place your pancake in the centre of your plate and spoon your accompanying dishes in the middle. Tear off a portion, fold in the food and enjoy!
