Name: Ethiopian injera and tikel gomen (cabbage, carrots and potato)
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup teff flour; 1 cup water; 1 dash salt; a little olive oil or coconut oil for frying; 1/2 onion (small-medium, thinly sliced); 4 oz carrots (115g, cut in medium-thin slices); 9 oz potatoes (260g, peeled and diced approx 3/4in/2cm dice); 4 1/2 oz white cabbage (130g, shredded, or light green); 1/2 tsp turmeric; 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp pepper

If you’ve yet to try Ethiopian food, you really should. Injera (a teff-based flatbread) is central to most meals & this tikel gomen is an easy dish to serve with it. You’ll be surprised how tasty cabbage, carrots and potatoes can be!

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When it was announced that today’s Sunday Supper theme was going to be finger food, I knew straight away that I wanted to make injera and other Ethiopian food. It’s a cuisine that has been gaining a lot of popularity in recent years and with good reason: it’s delicious and there are lots of dishes that work for different diets, as traditionally there is always at least one ‘fasting’ dish on the table.

The basis for nearly all Ethiopian meals is injera, a kind of flatbread made from teff flour which is both gluten-free and pretty healthy. Injera is often both the plate and then torn up and used kind of as a scoop for whatever you have with it.

Typically there are a number of dishes but today I’m sharing one easy dish to get you started – tikel gomen – that’s made with carrots, cabbage and potatoes. It may only have a few ingredients, but it’s got great flavor and is a tasty introduction to Ethiopian food.

My introduction to Ethiopian food

I first had Ethiopian food in New York many years ago but it was all part of a whirlwind few months living there that I didn’t remember too much other than I enjoyed it. Since moving here, I found a place in Boston that we have been to a couple times now as we enjoyed it so much. It has inspired me to make my own a few times at home too.

I have used a couple recipes I found but then played around a bit myself. In fairness, neither injera nor tikel gomen are that complicated, nor do they have that many ingredients, so there hasn’t been too much playing with these. But then in some ways that just shows they are both delicious and non-complicated to start with. Both, of course, are definitely good things.

How to make injera

The only moderately difficult things with the injera are a) finding teff flour and b) planning ahead a little to let it ferment. I couldn’t find teff flour in supermarkets near me so I bought it online which is of course easy enough.

There are lighter and darker varieties of teff so your injera may not be the same color as I have here (which is darker than I have had elsewhere). I used Bob’s Red Mill teff flour, but you’ll find other manufacturers online too.

Injera is only really flour and water but you in effect make a sourdough using natural yeast in the air so you need to let it ferment for 1 – 3 days. It can vary exactly how long is needed from one batch to the next and generally the longer you leave it the more of the slightly sour flavor will come through. If you’ve ever made sourdough bread, you’ll recognize seeing the bubbles in the mixture and the characteristic smell.

Making tikel gomen

The tikel gomen is very easy – simply fry the onions and carrots in some oil, add the potatoes, cabbage and spices then cover and let them cook to tenderness. It’s that easy, and there aren’t even many spices, but I think it’s one of the tastiest ways I’ve eaten those vegetables short of being in curry.

I plan to work on and share more Ethiopian dishes in due course as the flavors are so delicious. I’m also a fan of having various dishes on my plate to mix and savor (part of why I like Spanish tapas).

Tikel gomen is one of the more aromatic Ethiopian dishes but others have a fiery heat, so if you are a fan do try those too. As I said this injera and tikel gomen are a great introduction to Ethiopian food for the flavors, colors and way of eating. So find some teff flour and give them a try – it’s not difficult and the results will get your tastebuds exploring (and as a bonus, it’s all vegan and gluten free).

Try these other tasty vegetarian meals:

Lemon risotto with zucchini and asparagus
Vegetarian bibimbap (Korean rice bowl loaded with veggies)
Paneer Makhani (a delicious Indian firm-cheese curry)
Plus get more vegetarian meals in the archives.

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