Injera

[Smita Nordwall]

I stopped by an Ethiopian market today and now I have a huge package of beautiful injera in my kitchen. What can I do besides make a vat of wat? Does anyone know if you can freeze injera? Come on folks let that creativity flow....

[Pat]

My favorite offering at the Red Sea was a mix of cottage cheese and some kind of greens. (It may have also had onions?) I haven't found it anywhere else and don't know what it was called, but if I came into injera, I would attempt to recreate something like it.

(Oh, and where did you find the injera?)

[jparrott]

It might seem like blasphemy, but I don't see why you couldn't use it like a tortilla. Or pita. Injera shwarma!

[Pat]

I'm now planning to make an Ethiopian meal at home for Valentine's Day (partly because this thread got me thinking about it). That seemed like a good occasion for eating with your hands The only dish I've ever made before is doro wat, so it is a bit of a challenge. I've been researching recipes and trying to figure out how to approach this. I'm going to buy injera instead of attempting to make it. I'd rather have something authentic that I know will be good instead of trying to make a bastardized version myself.

My research has told me that the dish I could not remember the name of is Gomen Kitfo (or Yegomen Kitfo). I had all along been searching (and asking in restaurants) for something that I thought had spinach. It turns out to have been collards, which I discovered when I changed my search term to "greens." .

Anyway, on the topic of this thread, while I did not save any links, I discovered both stew and salad recipes that use injera as a component.

[Smita Nordwall]

It might seem like blasphemy, but I don't see why you couldn't use it like a tortilla. Or pita. Injera shwarma!

Go ahead and blaspheme, jparrott, that's the kind of thinking I was looking for. I ended up taking the easy way out and making injera chips for my crunch-hound hubby. Injera dries very well in the oven... but next time I am thinking of using it like a dosa. It has the tang that's similar ... Perhaps I can roll some "Indian" veggies in it and then crisp the roll in the oven.

[jparrott]

I wonder what an injera pudding scented with lots of vanilla, ginger and cardamom would taste like?

[bilrus]

I wonder what an injera pudding scented with lots of vanilla, ginger and cardamom would taste like?

I wonder what it would look like on a plate and feel like in the mouth.

[jparrott]

I wonder what it would look like on a plate and feel like in the mouth.

Maybe this one you'd make in the "smooth pudding" style and whirr the whole thing in a food processor before you bake it off. Then it might have a pretty silky texture.

[ol_ironstomach]

Maybe this one you'd make in the "smooth pudding" style and whirr the whole thing in a food processor before you bake it off. Then it might have a pretty silky texture.

But you'd lose that chewy bubbly steamed texture (which reminds me, distantly, of bai tang gao). I like the vanilla/ginger/cardamom axis though...how about shredded into postage-stamp pieces and configured as a trifle with alternating layers of sweetened shredded carrot (in the style of gajar halwa)?

[jparrott]

But you'd lose that chewy bubbly steamed texture (which reminds me, distantly, of bai tang gao). I like the vanilla/ginger/cardamom axis though...how about shredded into postage-stamp pieces and configured as a trifle with alternating layers of sweetened shredded carrot (in the style of gajar halwa)?

Let's be clear here. I don't necessarily share Mr. Rus's concerns with the texture of an orthodox (?) injera pudding--maybe if it was cut in thin strips?

[crackers]

Might make a nice tangy wrap/bun for a big juicy hamburger, if it could hold up to all the juices it would be absorbing.

[Pat]

It would have been good if I'd noticed the subtitle of this thread before now

[Smita Nordwall]

My favorite offering at the Red Sea was a mix of cottage cheese and some kind of greens. (It may have also had onions?) I haven't found it anywhere else and don't know what it was called, but if I came into injera, I would attempt to recreate something like it.

(Oh, and where did you find the injera?)

Pat, Sorry I didn't see this earlier. There is an Ethiopian market on South Pickett street, in the shopping center at the corner of S. Pickett and Van Dorn. I know it's also available in Adams Morgan.

[purplesachi]

Does anyone know if you can freeze injera? Come on folks let that creativity flow....

have you any luck with freezing the injera? how have you been storing it?

[Pat]

Pat, Sorry I didn't see this earlier. There is an Ethiopian market on South Pickett street, in the shopping center at the corner of S. Pickett and Van Dorn.

Thanks! I got injera here yesterday. They have quite a selection. The man said that it can be frozen, but I didn't ask for details.

[Ilaine]

It turns out to have been collards, which I discovered when I changed my search term to "greens."

This may be blasphemy to the Vitamin Police, but after many years of struggling with collard recipes never tasting right, I learned from Leah Chase, doyenne of Dookie Chase's (New Orleans) that if you blanch the collards for a few minutes and dump out the blanching water, they won't be bitter.

Also, remove and discard the ribs before you cook them.

Do these two things and they will be sweet and tender.

Cook them in chicken broth or ham broth with onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and mere mortals will praise your name!