riacmt@ubvmsa.cc.buffalo.edu (Carol Miller-Tutzauer) (08/25/90)
In article <1990Aug22.143633.10046@mthvax.cs.miami.edu>, JMLECHER%SUVM.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu (Jane M. Lecher) writes... >I first ate ethiopian food while visiting a friend in >San Fransicso, and promptly fell madly in love with the >food, and that wonderful bread! I can't find a recipe >for that bread anywhere. Could you please PLEASE send >one to me?? I'd be eternally grateful, and for any >other recipes you may have, I'd (almost) sell my soul. I have a very easy recipe for this type of bread, though my understanding is that you have to have a special flour, etc., for the really authentic stuff. I used to eat a lot at a place called Mama Desta's Red Sea Restaurant in Chicago and I think the following recipe is mighty close to what I had there: Simple Injera -- From Totally Hot! The Ultimate Hot Pepper Cookbook ------------- by Michael Goodwin, Charles Perry, & Naomi Wise 1 c pancake mix (not buckwheat mix, and preferably not buttermilk) 2 T rye flour 1 1/2 c sparkling water or club soda, at room temperature 1. Mix thoroughly, or sift together, the pancake mix and rye flour. Slowly stir in the sparkling water. Pour the batter into a clean bowl through a strainer, mashing any lumps with a spoon. 2. You will need a heavy, 9-inch no-stick frying pan (a shot of no-stick spray like Pam between each injera helps) with a cover. Heat the pan over a medium flame for about 3 minutes, until a "test spoonful" of the batter set immediately. 3. Pour 1/4 c of batter (exactly) into the middle of the pan (squirt with Pam first if desired) and cover the pan immediately. The injera should cook in about 90 seconds. When it's done, the surface will be pocked with holes, dry, and firmly set but still resilient; the bottom should have no more than a faint tan color. Ideally, the injera should be cooked through but still flexible. 4. Set the cooked injera on a plate, and repeat the process, stacking the injeras on top of one another as you finish them. (We put wax paper or paper towels between them to keep them from sticking to one another, but if they are sufficiently "dry" this shouldn't be necessary.) The injera can be cooked 3-4 hours before the meal and will keep (wrapped in plastic wrap) for 24 hours in the refrigerator. NOTE: There is a knack to this which has to be learned from experience. The basic principles are these: a) The dough must be cooked. b) The injera must be flexible. The batter must not be too thin, or cooking time will be so long the bottom will brown, and the injera will not be flexible. The cover is to speed up cooking the top of the injera, which is always a problem since injera is supposed to be cooked on only one side. ------------ This really is the best "non-authentic", non t'ef (that's the flour you need to be truly authentic) version of this bread I have run across, and you'll be surprised how you can pick up the knack of making the injera like pancakes. Let me know how it goes. Carol RIACMT@UBVMS