Just Baking

Probably best known as the main ingredient in the flatbread injera, teff has been cultivated in Ethiopia for thousands of years. Gluten-free and full of nutrients like iron, calcium, lysine, and many others, teff is used by many athletes to enhance their training diets. It is common in the diets of the very successful long distance runners from Ethiopia. Teff is a very hardy grain. It can withstand high temperatures and bright light and prefers 12 hours of daylight.

Teff grains are very small, about the size of poppy seeds. In fact 3,000 grains of teff equal one gram. The whole grains can be made into pilaf and porridge. The flour lends itself to quickbreads and cookies but needs to be paired with wheat flours to make yeast breads.

Injera is a flatbread that takes 2-3 days to make. The teff grains are ground and mixed with water and some other ingredients and left to ferment for a day or two. Due to the size of the grains, teff is hard, if not impossible, to grind at home and it’s much easier to buy it pre-ground. Then, on a heated pan, the injera is baked much like a tortilla, though only on one side.