Injera is a spongy, slightly sour flatbread from Ethiopia and Eritrea, considered to be the national dish of these two countries. It is a “plate”on a plate, with various dishes being piled on it and, using one’s fingers, one breaks off little pieces of the injera to scoop it all up.
Injera Ingredients
Traditionally made with Teff flour, you are just as likely to find Injera made with wheat flour, rice flour or a combination of any of these two; for the simple reason that teff, being the world’s smallest grain, is fairly expensive. In my home, my kids find the taste of teff a little too strong, so I definitely go down the half and half route.
All you need to make Injera is:
- teff flour (or some plain flour or rice flour)
- water
- salt
- vegetable oil or ghee for cooking
Injera Recipe without Teff (Easy Injera Recipe)
All you need to do is use equal amounts of rice flour and regular plain flour, and follow the rest of the recipe, as given below.
Gluten Free Injera
Teff flour is gluten free. So if you only use Teff four or half and half with rice flour, your injera will be gluten free.
My Ethiopian culinary introduction began in London when, for a year or so, I had an Ethiopian couple staying next to me. We became fast friends and loved cooking with each other; and on the odd occasion when I didn’t have a date (yes, it happened), I’d volunteer to babysit their two boys, as they also ran a small Ethiopian restaurant.
They taught me how to cook Injera, make my own Berbere and Niter Kibbeh and various Wat (wett/stews) recipes. I ended up cooking in their restaurant kitchen too, whenever they needed extra help, which ended up being more often than I’d anticipated, which was absolutely fine with me!
It was a priceless education, because at that point in time, East and West African cooking was the final frontier for me! I am still in touch with them after all these years and unbelievably, the boys are in their 20s now!
The traditional Injera batter is made then left to stand for 2-3 days, resulting in a strong, sour smell, much like sourdough but much more pungent. My kids absolutely detest it, which is why I use the quick method more often than not. It’s only when I’m having a party or cooking for clients that I go down the malodorous route!
I’ll give you both methods here.
How to serve Injera?
Traditionally served with Ethiopian stews, lentils and vegetables. Doro Wot (above) is a classic topping, along with farmer’s cheese, some spinach and perhaps another stew and vegetable dish. However, this will also go with all manner of curries and Indian sides. As seen in the picture, you place it on a plate and top with whatever you’re serving it with. Alternatively, roll and cut at a diagonal to allow diners to help themselves to the roti.
See the air pockets? 
Edge curling up 
All rolled up
♥ If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! 😉 Thank you! ♥
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Injera Recipe – Ethiopian Flat Bread
Ingredients
Traditional Injera
- 500 g teff flour (or half plain, half rice)
- 1 litre water
- 1 tsp salt
- vegetable oil or ghee for cooking
Quick Injera
- 220 g teff flour
- 220 g plain flour or rice flour or 220g each of rice and plain flour
- 2 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 800 – 1 litre ml warm water
- 125 ml very hot water just off the boil is perfect
Instructions
Traditional Injera
- Sift flour into a large bowl.
- Gradually add the water, stirring gently, continuously with a wooden spoon, to mix. It should have the consistency of slightly thicker than usual crêpe batter (runny pancake batter). You might not need all the water.
- Let the batter now sit for 2-3 days, covered with a kitchen paper, on your kitchen counter. This is the point where the batter will ferment, and at the end of it, you'll get a sour smell, much like sourdough.If you live in a warm climate, 2 days will do, otherwise, you might want to go for the whole 3 days.
- Scoop out any liquid floating at the top, and any off colour foam (like a little yellow). Add the salt and stir to combine.
Cooking the injera
- Transfer your batter into a jug, something that will allow you pour it onto the frying pan. Or just use a ladle, it's up to you.I was taught that the easiest way to control the amount of batter poured, was to use a jug with a small spout or even a small coffee/tea pot, because you're aiming for a thin layer.
- Grease your griddle or large frying pan on medium heat. Then pour a layer of the batter, going in a circular motion. Tilt your frying pan to allow the batter to spread, like a pancake.
- Cook until you see air pockets/holes appearing, about 30 seconds, then cover and cook for another minute, at which point, there’ll be lots of steam fighting to escape and when you lift the lid up, you’ll see that the injera is beginning to curl at the edge.
- Slide the Injera onto a large plate, as opposed to lifting with a spatula, the latter will just tear it.
Quick Injera
- In a large bowl, mix the yeast with a little bit of the warm water and stir to combine.
- Add whichever 2 flours you’re using, along with the salt.
- Gradually, add more warm water, stirring with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth batter, this time the consistency of thick pancake batter. Again, you may not need all the water.
- Cover with cling film and let stand for 1 hour.
- After an hour, the batter would have increased slightly, give it a stir and pour the hot water, stirring constantly, until you get the thick crêpe batter we mentioned in the traditional method.
- Let stand for 20 minutes, then proceed to cook as above.
Thanks so much for your reply Azlin! I notice in your directions, Step 4 of the “Traditional Injera” instructions is says “Scoop out any liquid floating at the top, and any off colour foam (like a little yellow)”… where those instructions there before and I just missed them? I feel so silly haha
I ended up stirring the yellow foam into my batter before I read those instructions. Then I put it in the fridge because I was scared of letting it ferment too much more. It’s been in the fridge the past few days. I checked it today and now there’s about 1/2 inch of liquid on the top with a sprinkling of little grayish/white dots on the surface. On the upside it now smells a little better, more sour, less ‘spoiled’.
Should I pour out that liquid & add fresh before I stir it up and cook it?
Should I toss this batch & start again?
If you could please look at a few photos I took hopefully that will help:
https://imgur.com/gallery/0cFPqyX
Thank you so much!!
Hey Ashley, there is quite a lot of yellow foam on that batter, and it isn’t looking too healthy. I suggest you sling it and start again but this time, just go for 2 days.
That grey/blackish liquid is hooch, natural alcohol that is produced as a result of fermentation. While a little is normal, when your batter has lots of it, it’s a clear indication that the batter is hungry. Which means it’s time to stop fermenting or feed it.
To feed it, lose the liquid and stir in a few tablespoons of flour. But it’s not really necessary here.
Why don’t you do this:
Start again, but reduce the water to 750ml (3 cups). There really is truth in not all flours are created equal, no kitchen is the same, etc.
Let it sit for 2 days, then add the rest of the water, lukewarm, let it sit for 30 minutes, then cook.
Fingers crossed, it’ll work this time.
I am in the middle of attempting the traditional method. I used half Teff flour and half All Purpose (white) flour.
It’s been very cold where I live (~15-20 degrees F) so I left it out on my kitchen counter 3 full days covered with a piece of paper towel that I taped down in four spots.
It seems to have fermented and gotten foamy and stuff but I’m worried something is wrong with it. In addition to the light brown colored foaminess there is a bit of yellow-ish colored foam around some parts/edges. Also, it smells kind of bad… I’ve never made sourdough before (& don’t eat it much) and I’ve never really fermented anything before so I’m not sure how it’s supposed to smell. It’s in the refrigerator now since I didn’t think I should leave it out longer than 3 days.
Can anyone advise if my batter sounds safe to cook and eat or should I just start over?? I’m worried I might cause food poisoning or something if it’s not correctly fermented.
Hi Ashly, The yellow on the sides is fine, it’s just the batter drying up.
The smell – unfortunately, not actually having a sniff of it, I can’t really confirm one way or another. I have a batch of it going now, just teff flour, on day 2. It’s been around freezing these days, so the kitchen probably gets fairly cool at night. But it’s foaming, and is certainly having an “off” sour smell. That smell is perfectly normal and is the smell of fermentation.
You’ll be amazed to know that people leave the batter fermenting for 5 days sometimes, and this, in milder climates.
I’m thinking it’s probably safe to cook it, BUT, since you aren’t sure, my advice is don’t. Better to be safe than sorry.
This is what I would suggest to you: throw the batter out and start again. If on the second try, you have that same strong, sour smell, then you know it is fine. Unfortunately, that’s the best advice I can give without seeing and smelling it.
Dear Azlin,
When you write to sit the teff and water mix for2-3 days, it means to cover it and save it in the fridge, or outside and covered, or outside and uncovered?
Thank you
Hi Mário, covered, and on the kitchen counter, not in the fridge. The mix wants to ferment, and the fridge will slow that down.
I’ll edit my instructions to make it clearer.
Should I apply oil or butter while cooking the injera?
Hi Mauli, yes, you do, either ghee or vegetable oil. I’ve edited the instructions to make that clearer.
Hi there Azlin
I tried the quick injera recipe and it was a total disaster. A couple questions for you. My mother in law is allergic to teff sadly. What combination of flours and how much should I use. She is also allergic to eggs, gluten, soy, and corn. Rice flours and bean flours are ok. Ethiopian is my favorite food but restaurants are closing and the few that aren’t are too far away and again allergies. Injera is the one thing I haven’t been able to replicate. I prefer very sour injera and not patient enough to wait for fermentation! I may try but I have Kik Alicha (my sons favorite!) that I made in the freezer. I have seen recipes using yeast and lemon juice to give it that sour flavor. What would you suggest to get that flavor? Sorry so long.
Thanks so much.
Jules
Hi Jules, when my kids were younger, I’d skip teff flour completely sometimes because one them didn’t like it. So I’d only use plain and rice flour. But as your mum can’t eat gluten, you could make the injera with just rice flour or rice flour + any gluten free flour.
The best sour ingredient I’ve used is sourdough. It’s pretty easy to start one yourself, many sites online for that. It mimics the sourness perfectly.
These are the measurements I’d use:
▢200 g plain flour and rice flour each
▢100g sourdough starter
▢1 tsp salt
▢800 ml warm water
▢125 ml very hot water, boil the water and count to 10 before using.
As sourdough is liquid, we’ll have to reduce the water in the recipe.
I’ll need to revive my starter (it’ in the fridge). As soon as I have time in the next week or so, I’ll make some injera with just rice flour and another batch with 2 gluten free, non teff flour. I’ll let you know how it goes and we’ll come up with a “perfect” recipe for you and mum.
Hello! Did I read correctly, you don’t flip the injera? Just cook uncovered for 30 sec and then covered for 1 min? Thank you!
Hi Shelley, yes, you read that right. Once the top turns opaque, you see bubbles and the edges start curling up, it’s done.
I want to try this gluten free. Can you tell me where the high sodium is in the recipe?
Hi Caren, the sodium is from the 1 tsp of salt used in the recipe. 1 tsp salt = over 2 grams (2325.5 mg) of sodium. Divide that by the 6 servings, you have just under 394mg, with traces of salt from the yeast.
Thank you for the recipe. I followed it, but when I cooked the injera, only a few air pockets/holes appeared, and the batter seemed very thick and started cracking. I used half teff flour/half plain flour, but I only about 700 ml of water, because I thought the dough looked a little thin and already seemed to have the right consistency, but perhaps the batter just did not sit for long enough… What do you think went wrong and is there still a way to fix this?
Hi Monica, the batter does want to be a little on the thin side, as Injera are not thick pancakes/bread by nature. I assume you added baking powder to the batter too? Then the resting shouldn’t need to be more than an hour. If I had to guess, I would say that the batter was poured on a little too thick. You want a thin layer of batter, to allow the bubbles to escape and form holes. They will struggle to do so if they have to fight through batter. I hope that makes sense.
And I also hope that you have better luck next time. Let me know how it goes.
My mom had a very good friend 20+ years ago from Africa, she would make this and We would have it with butter and berbere spice. I’m allergic to yeast so I never bothered to look for the recipe, you can imagine how excited I was to see the no yeast recipe. We both are making it tonight.
Can I use Half whole wheat flour, half rice flour?
Thanks
Hi Ashley, I am so pleased to hear that!
Yes, you can use anything you like, I would think. The taste is going to be slightly different with each combination, as you can imagine, but the whole wheat flour will give it a deeper flavour, I would think.
Also, just a quick note: if your mum’s friend used to make it with teff flour, the flavour of her injera would have been much, much different than anything regular and plain flour will have.
Very interesting bread.. never used teff flour in cooking. Does the flour has an aftertaste? I like the topping on the bread those chicken pieces take my attention!!
Thank you Swaty, that chicken is Doro Wot, the famous Ethiopian stew, the recipe link is on the post.
Teff flour has a definite sour taste to it, which comes through in the bread. My kids are not big fans, so I tend to use half of it with half plain flour.
Oh dear. I added the salt by accident in the first step. Should I abandon ship and start again?
No, that’s fine, just go ahead with it. If you haven’t already, since I’m replying 12 hours later!
This is simply awesome. Have tried the clarified butter, making the doro wot and these tomorrow. Thank you!
Cool, really impressed with your dedication! Let me know how it goes.
Thank you! I have been looking for a good injera recipe, and I hadn’t found one that produced anything as good as this. I knew I was on to something good when I saw your recipe included flour measurements in weights not volume!
Haha, yes, volume measurements can be a bit frustrating. Thank you, do let me know if you try the recipe, and how it turns out.
Very nice. I’ve had this a couple of times and am really looking forward to trying out both your recipes.
Thank you Mel, let me know how it goes!
I just adore Ethiopian food but was never sure how to go about making it. I have to try this bread! Maybe the quick one so that my kids will eat it. 🙂
Thank you Lisa. Half Teff and half rice flour is a good combination too – not too strong.
If I’m doing it the traditional way, do I leave it out at room temperature or in the refrigerator?
Hi Paolo, you definitely want to leave it out at room temperature for it to ferment. Refrigeration slows down, even stops fermentation.