Make sure you don't injera yourself in the kitchen
This is the long game: a teff batter that bubbles away for days, a spice blend you toast seed by seed, and onions cooked dry until they turn jammy and sweet. Plan ahead, clear your weekend and get ready for the deepest, warmest stew you've ever scooped up with your hands.
The challenge
- Fermenting teff batter
- Injera's spongy texture
- Specialty pan required
- Sourcing specialty ingredients
- Toasting and grinding spices
Ethiopia's national dish requires days of planning and hard-to-find ingredients. The doro wat involves caramelizing onions without oil for hours, then building a complex chicken stew with house-made berbere spice blend and Ethiopian spiced butter.
Getting teff to ferment properly outside Ethiopia's climate is notoriously tricky, and the berbere requires sourcing and individually toasting numerous uncommon spices.
Prep: 2-3 days fermenting, plus 1 hour Β Β·Β Cook: 2 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients
For the injera
- 300 g (2 1/2 cups) teff flour (brown or ivory)
- 600 ml (2 1/2 cups) lukewarm filtered water, plus extra
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the berbere (makes extra)
- 8 dried mild red chillies (such as New Mexico or guajillo), stems and seeds removed
- 1 tsp each coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds and black peppercorns
- Seeds from 6 green cardamom pods, 4 cloves and 4 allspice berries
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and 1 tsp salt
For the niter kibbeh (spiced butter)
- 250 g (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, 2 garlic cloves and a thumb of ginger, all chopped
- 1/2 tsp each fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and turmeric, 3 crushed cardamom pods and 1 tsp dried oregano (or besobela if you can find it)
For the doro wat
- 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks, bone in
- Juice of 1 lemon and 1 tsp salt
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) red onions, very finely chopped (a food processor helps)
- 4 garlic cloves and 1 tbsp ginger, grated
- 500 ml (2 cups) water or chicken stock
- 6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
Method
- Day 1: start the teffIn a large glass or ceramic bowl, whisk the teff with 500 ml (2 cups) of the water to a smooth, pourable batter. Cover with a clean cloth and leave somewhere warm, ideally 24-27Β°C (75-80Β°F), such as near (not on) a heater or in an oven with only the light on. Stir once a day.
- Days 2-3: watch the fermentAfter 2-3 days the batter should smell pleasantly sour, look bubbly, and a layer of yellowish liquid may form on top. Pour that liquid off. If nothing is happening after day 2, move it somewhere warmer. A pink or fuzzy mould means bin it and start again.
- Toast and grind the berbereToast the chillies in a dry pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and pliable, then set aside. Toast the coriander, fenugreek, peppercorns, cardamom, cloves and allspice for 1-2 minutes, shaking, until they smell nutty (fenugreek turns bitter if it goes dark). Cool, then grind everything with the paprika, ginger, cinnamon and salt to a fine powder.
- Make the niter kibbehMelt the butter in a small pan over low heat. Add all the aromatics and spices and simmer very gently for 30-40 minutes, without browning, until the milk solids sink and the butter is clear and golden. Strain through muslin or a fine sieve. Keeps for weeks in the fridge.
- Cook the onions dryMarinate the chicken in the lemon juice and salt while you start. Put the onions in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat with no fat at all. Stir often for 45-60 minutes as they release their water, shrink and turn soft, sticky and deep red-brown. If they start catching, add a splash of water and scrape. This is where the sweetness comes from, so don't rush it.
- Build the stewAdd 100 g (1/2 cup) niter kibbeh to the onions and stir until melted. Add 3-4 tbsp berbere, the garlic and ginger and cook for 10 minutes, stirring, until thick and glossy. Add a splash of water if it sticks.
- Simmer the chickenRinse and pat the chicken dry, add it to the pot and turn to coat. Pour in the water, bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 45 minutes, stirring now and then, until the chicken is very tender and the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Score the eggs lightly all over and add them for the last 15 minutes. Taste for salt.
- Make the absitWhisk the remaining 1/2 tsp salt into the batter. Bring 125 ml (1/2 cup) water to the boil in a small pan, whisk in 125 ml (1/2 cup) of the batter and stir for 2-3 minutes until it thickens to a paste. Cool slightly, then whisk it back into the main batter. Leave for 30-60 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface. The batter should be like thin pancake batter; loosen with water if needed.
- Cook the injeraHeat a mitad, or your largest non-stick frying pan with a lid, over medium heat (no oil). Pour a thin layer of batter in a spiral from the outside in, about 2-3 mm thick. Cook uncovered until the surface is covered in little holes ('eyes'), about 1 minute, then cover for 1-2 minutes until the top is dry and set. Do not flip. Slide onto a cloth and cool in a single layer before stacking.
- ServeLine a large platter with injera, ladle the doro wat and eggs into the middle and serve extra rolled injera on the side for scooping. Eat with your right hand and share.
- Eat with your handsTear off injera, scoop up the wat and feed someone a bite, which is called gursha and is a sign of love in Ethiopia. No cutlery allowed. Check your fingers are all still attached first. No injeras on our watch.
Tips from the trenches
- Teff is happiest with filtered or boiled-and-cooled water, since chlorine can slow the ferment down.
- No mitad? A large non-stick pan with a tight lid does a solid job. The lid is what steams the top and creates the spongy texture.
- The first injera is always a tester. Too thick and it goes gummy; no eyes means the batter needs more time or a little more water.
- Look for teff, besobela and koseret at African or Ethiopian grocers, or online. Ready-made berbere works too if you can't get the whole spices.
βCooking is a bit like cinema. It's the emotion that counts.ββ Anne-Sophie Pic
