Ethiopia | Side

Injera

Name: Injera
Prep time: 2890 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 2920 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Ethiopia, East Africa
Ingredients: 2 cups teff flour; 3 cups lukewarm water; 1 tbsp sourdough starter or reserved injera batter; 1 cup water; ½ tsp salt; 1 tsp vegetable oil, for the pan if needed

A tangy Ethiopian teff flatbread fermented for two to three days, finished with absit, and cooked on one side until full of eyes.

Country

Ethiopia

Region

East Africa

Time

2920 min

Serves

Level

hard

Start cooking Explore Ethiopia recipes

01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 8

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 8 servings

Side

Batter

2 cups teff flour 3 cups lukewarm water 1 tbsp sourdough starter or reserved injera batter (optional)

Absit

1 cup water

Finish

½ tsp salt

Cooking

1 tsp vegetable oil, for the pan if needed (optional)

A few kitchen essentials

Suggested from the recipe method. Use equivalent equipment you have.

Lidded pot

Wooden spoon

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Ethiopia

6 steps 2890 min prep 30 min cook (check method) 2920 min total hard

Ferment the batter

Whisk teff flour with lukewarm water and starter if using. Cover loosely and ferment at room temperature until bubbly and pleasantly sour.

Kitchen noteTwo days is mild; three days is tangier.

Ferment 2880:00

Make absit

Whisk about 1/2 cup fermented batter with 1 cup water in a small pot. Cook, stirring, until it turns glossy and thick. Cool until warm.

Cook absit 05:00

Finish the batter

Stir the cooled absit back into the fermented batter. Add salt and enough water for a thin crepe-like pour.

Rest after absit 120:00

Cook one side

Heat a mitad or nonstick pan. Pour the batter in a spiral, cover, and cook until the surface is set and full of eyes. Do not flip.

Cook each 02:00

Cool and stack

Lift the injera carefully onto a cloth. Cool fully before stacking so the breads do not stick.

Serve

Use one injera as the platter and roll extra pieces for scooping.

Diaspora cooks often blend teff with wheat, barley, rice, or sorghum flour depending on climate and flour quality.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas

Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for everyday meals. Plan on a hard cook. Allow about 2920 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Doro wat, shiro, misir wat, tibs, kitfo, salads, and vegetable stews

Follow the collection

Injera appears in 2 AfroKitchen collections. Start with Vegetarian Africa if you want more dishes in the same mood. Vegetarian Africa

Regional lane

Injera and wot table. Stews, sauces, and flatbread built for communal injera service.

Chef watch-outs

Adding too much liquid after the rice goes in.
Stirring too often once the grains should be steaming.
Rushing the rest or fermentation period.

How you know it is ready

The grains should be tender but still distinct, with steam carrying the seasoning upward.
The bread or batter should smell pleasantly fermented, toasted, or nutty rather than floury.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.

Pantry lane

teff, berbere, mitmita, niter kibbeh, split peas

Recipe photos

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

Injera recipe from Ethiopia — Injera finished dish

Chef board

Build the table around Injera

Doro wat, shiro, misir wat, tibs, kitfo, salads, and vegetable stews

Best route from here

Injera and wot table

Collections to keep cooking

Ethiopian Fasting Table Across Africa Showstoppers

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