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Injera, starter method · Teff injera with a three-day starter
Teff injera made from a three-day teff starter, a three-day main dough fermented under water, and a cooked tempering of part of the batter before griddling.
Injera is a fermented flatbread made mostly from teff, the small grain that is the staple of Ethiopia. Its surface is covered in small holes that catch the stew it is served with, and it is torn and used to scoop food. The review cited here describes it as an Ethiopian staple that is also common in Eritrea and parts of Somalia.
This batch starts with a teff starter. A little teff flour and room-temperature water are held in the dark for three to five days. The creator checks it daily for foam and bubbles. On the third day the separated liquid is poured off and the rest of the starter is added to a larger quantity of teff flour, which is the step that turns the starter into the main dough.
The main dough is mixed to a stiff consistency with water added gradually, then left to ferment under surface water for three days. The water on top is topped up on day two and poured off on day three. The creator's choice of how long to leave that water changes the sourness, and the two waters decanted at different points are not the same.
Part of the fermented batter is then cooked: two cups of water are boiled, one cup of the batter is whisked in, and the mixture is brought back to a boil until it thickens. It is folded into the batter and rested for two to four hours. This tempering is what gives injera its open structure on the griddle.
The batter is poured on the griddle in a circle, covered, and cooked without turning for about three minutes. The captions give the griddle as "about 350°" with no unit, so the heat cannot be converted safely. The creator says the centre may look undone and finish on cooling, while white spots are uncooked. Those cues conflict, so this page does not state a doneness endpoint.
The seven pieces the video makes are smaller than the customary size. They are cooled before stacking, as the video says.
A second home video starts from a saved starter and records only its first day. This page does not use that video, because its starter, absit and cooking stages are not reviewed. Separate injera methods on this site use a 24-hour formula and a saved-starter and absit batch. Those are not blended into this one.
A 2024 historical study dates a shift in the pouring method in the Shoa region to 1879 to 1898. That is a change in cooking method, not the origin of injera, and the video does not establish a regional standard.
Yield 7 each · Scaling: source batch only
FDA notes that raw flour may contain bacteria and that cooking or baking kills them. The starter and dough are not cooked before the griddle.
Hazard sourceThe video's doneness cues conflict: the centre may look undone and finish on cooling, while white spots are said to be uncooked.
Hazard sourceGriddle until fully cooked, cooling only after the bread is done
Control sourceNo griddle temperature in degrees is captioned, so the video's setting cannot be reproduced exactly.
Foam, bubbles and acidity preferences are not measures of safety.
No finished-injera storage duration is given.
The 2020 review describes injera as an Ethiopian staple. This home video's own regional source is not established.
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2 Cooks in the Kitchen - Matthew Cook MusicMethod
2 Cooks in the Kitchen - Injera - Ethiopian Fermented FlatbreadStarter of ½ cup teff and 1 cup water held three to five days
Day-three addition of starter to 3 cups teff flour, about 1½ cups water
Three-day main-dough fermentation under surface water
Tempering with 2 cups boiled water and 1 cup fermented batter, rest about 3½ hours
Seven pieces griddled about three minutes per piece, cooled before stacking
Journal of Ethnic FoodsHistory
Injera (An Ethnic, Traditional Staple Food of Ethiopia): A review on Traditional Practice to Scientific DevelopmentsInjera as an Ethiopian staple, also common in Eritrea and parts of Somalia
History of preparation uncertain
Teff injera served with wot
Journal of African StudiesHistory
A Historical Study on the Establishment of Injera Cooking in the Shoa Region, EthiopiaPouring method in the Shoa region established between 1879 and 1898
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSafety
Flour Is a Raw Food and Other Safety FactsRaw flour may contain bacteria; cooking or baking kills them