Injera Bread Ingredients
Injera is a flat, spongy bread from Ethiopia and Eritrea that is used as both plate and utensil. Ethiopian food is served in a large, colorful woven basket with a thin lip, covered with a layer of injera. The tray is called a mosob. Food is mounded on the injera in a colorful display. It is then eaten by pulling off a piece of injera and pinching it into a scoop, using it to carry the food to your mouth. Once all the food is gone, any remaining injera is also eaten. Does this Spark an idea?
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Teff
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The main ingredient of injera is teff, a small-seeded grain whose name means "lost" in Amharic, one of the languages of the Ethiopian/Eritrean region. Teff flour contains very little gluten, so injera does not rise to make a loaf the way wheat-based flours do. It contains contains 11 percent protein, 80 percent complex carbohydrates and 3 percent fat, according to Doris Piccinin of the Department of Nutrition and Food Service.
Yeast
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Injera is leavened with yeast, which gives it its spongy, bubbly texture. The yeast is mixed with a small amount of sugar and warm water to activate it. It is sometimes worked into a small amount of regular wheat flour to give the dough just enough gluten to allow it to stretch.
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Procedure
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Mix together activated yeast, a little regular flour, 3 cups of teff and a little water to make a sticky, stretchy dough that sticks to your hands and almost drips through your fingers. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until your dough has a consistency between very thick pancake batter and runny drop biscuit mix. Spread the dough on a large, flat skillet or crepe pan and allow to cook until the surface is bubbly. Flip onto a serving tray and pile an assortment of Eritrean and Ethiopian dishes in a circle or flower pattern.
Gluten
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Injera is spongier when it has a little gluten, a protein found in wheat flour. Adding too much wheat flour will result in a less spongy bread that will not spread well in the pan while baking. For best results, use no more than 1 cup of wheat flour to every 3 cups of teff.
Other Ingredients
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Salt is optional when making injera. Sugar is needed to activate the yeast. If you use instant yeast, you do not need any sugar, but the yeast will not always be as active. You would not usually add any spices to injera, as most Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes are already savory, sweet, sour or hot.
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