Adventures in African Cooking: Americanized Injera - A Resounding Failure

It's not good, people. And I'd had such high hopes. So sad.

I found several americanized injera recipes online, many using flour or biscuit mix and club soda as main ingredients. So I'd decided on a recipe using half bisquick and half buckwheat pancake mix with club soda. Here's the recipe:

Americanized Injera

1 cup buckwheat pancake mix
1 cup biscuit mix (ie, Bisquick) OR self-rising flour (I didn't have any)
1 egg
1 Tbsp oil
1-1/3 cups club soda

Combine all ingredients for an easy pouring consistency. Let stand, covered with a tea towel, at room temperature about 1-1/2 hours.

Bring a heavy skillet to medium heat uniformly over the flame. Reduce flame to low and spray pan with canola oil.

Pour or ladle batter onto hot pan in a stream starting from the outside and going in circles to the center. (A ladle is very helpful here to make sure the batter gets spread before setting.)

Cover pan tightly and cook for about 1-2 minutes or until bubbles are uniformly over the entire surface and pancake is cooked and dry to the touch on the surface.

Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Re-heat and start over until all batter is used. Pancakes should be stacked with paper towels between each.


I made two experimental versions. Version 1 was made as written, and the other, version 2, using all buckwheat mix and substituting beer. I figured beer would assist that sour ferment-y taste typical of real injera.

Not so. But we'll get to that.

So version 1, made in a stainless steel mixing bowl. After sitting on the counter for 1-1/2 hours, it had risen slightly but nothing too exciting. But verion 2 had doubled in volume!

After stirring well, both batters deflated; version 2 had more of an elastic-y consistency.

After cooking one pancake from each batter came the taste test. Version 1 yielded what can only be described as a pancake. Like what you'd put syrup on. Not flexible. Not what I'd call anything close to resembling real injera. Version 2 definitely had a fermented sour smell, but the taste was waaaaaay too strong. Like a beer pancake. Mmm. Both pancakes had a real floury crusty bite.

I added some water and a generous pinch of sugar to version 2 and tried again. That came out more crepe-ish than pancake. Better taste, but still not right.

That's when I came up with the idea to mix the two batters together. Versions 1 and 2 then became Batter X--and yielded the best taste.

Still not real injera, though.

So, for the Ethiopian meal I've planned for tomorrow at 1pm, I'll use the icky pancakes to line the pizza pan on which I'll serve the doro wat and sides, if only for an authentic look. But I'll have to pass out dishes, and perhaps even make a batch of white rice to balance the heat of the doro wat.

Oh, well.

I don't know if I'll try making injera from real teff, though. It seems like such a lengthy and difficult process... we'll see. I might just ask friends still in Atlanta to mail me a box of good, ready-made injera readily available there.

Here are some photos from my injera fun this afternoon:






Until tomorrow...

Mrs. W