Have you ever tried injera, a spongy, sour flatbread made with teff the tiniest grain in the world that is a nutrition powerhouse and has no gluten- a main staple in Ethiopian and Eritrean meals as an eating utensil to scoop food? 🥘 #superfood
Asmait Merhatsion who is in our business incubator program has recently arrived from living for 12 years in Israel worked for an NGO for women's health, extensively with refugees and has hosted lots of cooking workshops. She had fascinating stories to tell about the turbulent journey from Eritrea to living in multiple countries in the Middle East before coming to Canada. Woven between demonstrations and hands-on learning, we made Injera, the teff flatbread that is the foundation of all Eritrean meals.
Perfect with a cuppa' for weekend brunch |
Taking Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine and flavours further at home... But first let's feast our eyes on this restaurant carousel of vibrant healthful veggies 🌈!
Ethiopian cuisine has been top of my list for trying my hands on at home. With the workshop fresh on my mind, a bag each of shiro (chickpea powder) and berbere (a fiery medley of spices and chilies) given to me by Asmait, and picking up fresh prepared injera from Iqbal supermarket, the time has happily come...
Their staple injera-- a thick, spongy pancake-like sourdough bread is made from the smallest super grain in the world-- teff (Ethiopia's principle grain) is not only a food but it serves as a utensil and plate. Accompanying dishes are placed on it-- a bit of bread is torn off and used to wrap the food to eat. Widely used flavours of spicy and complexity include hot chilies, fenugreek, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, mint, garlic and onions.
Although meat is prevalent on the menu, I always opt for vegetarian. Tonight, I prepared three veggie-licious dishes. Shiro (chickpea powder) Wat stew made with onions, tomatoes, berbere, ginger and garlic cooked until silky. Although it should be smooth, mine turned out chunky but flavourful. Misir Wat is a fiery red lentil stew cooked down with onions, tomatoes, tomato paste, ginger and garlic in a broth. This was our favourite tonight. And the third, Atakilt Wat, a simple cumin and turmeric spiced cabbage, carrot and potato stir fry. A lovely textural filling in a swoop with a piece of injera. By the time dinner was served the stews cooled- should have a thinner texture for easy mopping 🤗
Berbere (a fiery medley of spices and chilies) |