I miss food from the Horn of Africa. The other night I was talking with a cab driver and he told me about his escape from Somalia to Kenya, and life in the refugee camps. As we started discussing the hundreds of thousands of Somalis now living in Minnesota, I remembered long dark nights in Minneapolis and a number of wonderful meals based on Injera…

Time to prepare and cook: 40 minutes
Servings: 6 (12 flatbread)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups teff
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups club soda

1. Use a large bowl to whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then add the eggs and club soda until you have a smooth batter (like American pancakes).
2. Add a touch of oil to a 10 inch frying pan and put over a medium heat. Once hot, drop 1/3 cup of the batter and rotate the pan to spread it thinly over the whole bottom. Cook until it has bubbles and appears dry on top (2 to 3 minutes). Do not flip.
3. Slide the bread onto a plate and cover with a kitchen towel. Keep it warm by putting in an oven (200F) as you finish cooking the rest of the batter.

Good luck finding Tej. :)

There is a poor-man’s Tej recipe at the end of the Africa Studies page at UPenn.