Ethiopian

Rye and Spelt Injera (Ethiopian Flat Bread)

August 25, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

This post was a long time in the making as I have been thinking about and craving this Ethiopian flat bread for years, but never got around to making it until now! Injera is similar to Indian Dosas as it is cooked on a flat pan like a crepe. The bread is very sour and spongey, making it an accompaniment for all sorts of curries and stews. The bread is usually made with teff flour but I chose this recipe that uses a mixture of rye and spelt flours. Making sourdough is a neat process since you’re basically supporting a little cosmos in a bowl–full of fermenting bacteria and yeast. It does take several days to make the starter so as with most sourdough recipes it will require some patience. It sounds gross, but there is definitely a method to the madness because sourdough is amazing in all forms. This bread was the perfect vehicle for the two Ethiopian dishes I planned for it, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!

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Ethiopian Chickpea and Cauliflower Stew with Preserved Lemons

August 24, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

To go along my Ethiopian Lentil Curry I chose another Ethiopian-style curry with chickpeas and cauliflower. One of my favorite things about curry is that both of these dishes can be called a “curry” yet they are both so different and complimentary at the same time. This stew is a yellow curry seasoned with turmeric, cumin, cardamom, coriander and paprika. It is more loosely based on Ethiopian chickpea and vegetable stews because I thought it would be fun to embellish it a bit. I don’t think preserved lemons are found too much in Ethiopian food but they really added amazing flavor to this dish. The preparation was easy and the result was so tasty! It tasted great with the lentils as well as the Injera bread.
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Ethiopian Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry

August 18, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

A few years ago I went to an Ethiopian restaurant and was completely taken with the food. I couldn’t remember all of the curries that I tried but I do remember the bread they served with the main course: injera. I wanted to recreate that meal at home so I set out researching Ethiopian curries. It turns out that the injera is served as the “plate” to place a variety of tasty curries. I settled on this red lentil and yam curry which I thought would go nicely on top of the injera. A spice blend of cumin, cinnamon, ginger, paprika and allspice flavor the curry. The sweet potato and lentils went together so well and provided an element of sweetness that balanced the spices. It was a really simple dish that tasted great with the injera.
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