Injera With Shiro Wat

 Last weekend we were at an Ethiopian Restaurant for lunch. That was our first time trying Ethiopian  food. We knew our choice would be limited being vegetarians but, to our surprise, it was a vegetarians jackpot. Ethiopian food in so many ways reminded us of Indian food specially in the use of spices and lentils. My trip to any new cuisine we try, usually ends with recreating the meal at home . Injera is traditionally made with Teff Flour. Teff flour is soaked and fermented for 3 to 5 days to make sour,spongy Injeras. I  didn't use any starters or yeast to ferment the Teff flour.I just soaked two cups Teff flour in four cups of water and left it ferment for 24 hours and the best part of Injeras -they are rich in Iron and there is no oil used.Finding Teff flour  in Chicago wasn't really hard either ,a little help from Google and I was ready to go.My local Whole Foods market carried Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Teff Flour.

Soaked Teff flour after 24 hours

  You can learn more about Teff  here.

Injera in the making

Traditionally Injeras are had with some kind of stew called Wat  made with split peas. We had our Injeras with Shiro wat. I created my own version of shiro wat in my kitchen and it turned out to be almost like the restaurant version minus the butter. You can find the recipe for Shiro Wat here . All wats contain Berebere, a mouthwatering Ethiopian spice mix . I made mine  by grinding Cinnamon,Cardamom,Cloves,Cumin,Coriander,Allspice,Turmeric and Pepper corn.  Shiro powder and berebere spice mix are simmered together in tomato onion base to make a Wat.

Injera with Shiro Wat

 I had a fun time preparing an Ethiopian meal at home for lunch. Next time I try making Injeras, I would probably try to make them  using a starter to get more spongy breads.And finally if you love a little spice in your food like we do ,then Ethiopian Cuisine is for you too !