Injera

History

Injera is a large spongy flatbread with a texture riddled with characteristic small holes, made from teff flour, a tiny grain native to the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands, mixed with water and left to ferment for several days before being cooked on a large round clay griddle. Teff has been grown in Ethiopia for millennia and forms an essential dietary staple of the country, particularly suited to the high-altitude conditions of the Ethiopian highlands where other grains struggle to grow.

Injera plays a double, central role in the traditional Ethiopian meal: laid as a large flatbread at the bottom of a shared platter, it serves both as the plate on which various stews and sauces (like doro wat or kitfo) are arranged, and as the utensil, with each diner tearing off pieces with their fingers to scoop up the food, never using cutlery. This collective, convivial way of eating, sharing the same family dish, holds a very strong cultural and social place in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Ingredients — makes 8 large flatbreads

• 400 g teff flour
• 600 ml warm water
• A pinch of yeast (optional, to speed up fermentation)
• Salt

Step-by-step Ethiopian injera recipe

1. Mix the teff flour and warm water until you get a smooth, lump-free batter.
2. Let this batter ferment at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, covered with a cloth, until it develops bubbles and a slightly tangy smell.
3. Add a pinch of salt and mix again before cooking.
4. Heat a large round griddle or a very wide non-stick pan.
5. Pour the batter in a spiral from the center outward to form a large, thin, even flatbread.
6. Cover and cook on one side only, never flipping, until the surface is riddled with small holes and no longer sticky at all.

Cooking method

Technique: long fermentation over several days that develops the characteristic tang and bubbles, cooking on one side only, never flipping the flatbread.

Traditional equipment: round clay griddle called a mitad, traditionally heated over a wood fire.

Tips: the flatbread should develop many small holes on the surface during cooking; their absence signals a batter that hasn’t fermented enough.

Nutrition, per flatbread

Calculated from the raw teff flour and water quantities above, divided by eight flatbreads.

Notable amounts: fiber sits around 4 g per flatbread, higher than most wheat flatbreads, since teff is a whole grain used in full (bran and germ included). These figures describe the injera itself, before any of the stews it’s traditionally served under and scooped up with — a full Ethiopian meal typically involves two or three flatbreads plus toppings.

Economic context

Teff is grown almost exclusively in the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands and remains a domestically produced staple grain, distinct from the wheat and rice that dominate diets in most of the world — which also means teff flour is often significantly more expensive outside Ethiopia than the local cost of a healthy diet would suggest.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Ethiopia generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

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