Does injera require a starter?
I want to make Ethiopian injera bread at home, but the recipes I've seen are inconsistent about whether a bread starter is needed. Do I need to use a sourdough starter? Can I use baker's yeast, or perhaps make due without a starter?
Best Answer
The traditional Injera is made with wild yeast. Basically, you mix the ingredients and let it sit for 2-3 days to ferment. The wild yeast just finds it, and it works fine. However, the time it takes to ferment changes based on the average presence of yeast in the air and things like that, so it changes from batch to batch.
As a shortcut, and mostly for consistency of results, you can use a sourdough starter. In fact, once you've made your first batch, you can keep an Injera starter, so that you're still just using Teff flour.
To be fair, the biggest factor in fermentation time is usually the ambient temperature, rather than the source of the yeast.
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Quick Answer about "Does injera require a starter?"
As a shortcut, and mostly for consistency of results, you can use a sourdough starter. In fact, once you've made your first batch, you can keep an Injera starter, so that you're still just using Teff flour.Does injera need a starter?
The injera fermentation process is very similar to that of sourdough and requires a starter (ersho) to be created approximately three days before mixing the batter.How do I feed my injera starter?
Leftover starter can be kept in a clean, dry jar, loosely covered in the refrigerator. When you plan to use some of the starter, bring it to room temperature, feed it with equal amounts of teff flour and filtered water (I usually add 2 to 4 tablespoons of each), and let it rest in a warm spot for 24 hours.Why is my injera not spongy?
If your injera has no bubbles, this suggests that kneading the dough affects the bubble content, and the baking powder has a lot to do with it. Try adding a bit of baking powder to your batter and see if that improves things. If not, you might need to try kneading your dough more next time around.What is injera fermented by?
To make injera, teff flour is mixed with water. The fermentation process is triggered by adding ersho, a clear, yellow liquid that accumulates on the surface of fermenting teff flour batter and is collected from previous fermentations.Injera starter/ersho
More answers regarding does injera require a starter?
Answer 2
I've made injera at home several times, and I've never used a starter for it. It ferments/ripens just fine on its own.
Answer 3
With acknowledgement to the introduction of @franko's answer: I've made injera at home several times, with mixed results. I've tried:
- no added yeast or starter: just autolyse and whatever wild yeast happens to be in the teff flour or in the air. I did this twice (that I recall); both were basically successful although took a long time (~3 days) and were more sour than I wanted.
- my (wheat) sourdough starter: active, and enough quantity to ferment the flour in the amount of time I wanted (12 to 36 hours, or more perhaps). This was okay, but to get the leavening and flavor I wanted I had to use a lot of starter, so it diluted the teff more than I wanted.
- a small pinch of commercial yeast (a small number of grains of regular active dry yeast). The flavor was still sour (small amount of yeast yields more time for bacteria/sourness to develop) but had good leavening, 100% teff, and predictable (and predictable) rise time.
Personally, I preferred the results of the commercial yeast attempt, although this is likely the "least authentic" strategy. Likely the best strategy is to cultivate your own teff starter (as suggested by @Carmi), but you probably need to really like injera to maintain same.
Some thoughts for higher probability of success:
- Use the best teff flour you can find. Organic, fresh, and minimally processed will be better bets; these will be more likely to have higher amounts of nutrients and wild critters intact.
- If you bake a lot of bread (of any type) you've probably cultivated a kitchen (and techniques) that will foster good sourdough.
The injera I've had at restaurants seems "whiter" (and lighter and tastier ...) than what I have been able to produce. I use a flour that is rather brown, which I assume is due to it being whole-meal. Might be worth trying refined (non-wholemeal) teff.
The rest depends on your approach and goals: Make this all the time, or one-off? Do you make lots of other sourdough or breads?
Good luck.
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