Ethiopia dinner

Everyone enjoyed our recent trip to the Blue Nile so much that on Friday, we made an Ethiopian dinner at home.

The menu:
Akara (the same appetizer we made for our South African dinner, recipe here.
Cabbage and potato (see below)
lentils (also below)
and, of course, homemade injera (also called biddeena, the bread that doubles as utensils, recipe below).

M had fun helping make the injera and eating with his hands. Our homemade injera was a little thicker than the restaurant's, which made it a little harder to pick up bites of lentils and, especially, the cabbage and potato. But we still enjoyed sharing a platter of food. Steve named it "Gosa Gosa Mom," like Blue Nile's Gosa Gosa A (I think Gosa Gosa means combo).

M's interruption

Hi.We made injera and then ate it with the other dishes.We also had some yogurt (It isn't on the menu).

Back to Mom...

I used the recipes for injera and yellow lentils from "The Africa News Cookbook: African Cooking for Western Cooking" and also adapted the recipe for the potato and cabbage from one of the recipes in "The Africa News."

Injera (cut in half from the cookbook's recipe, made plenty for the three of us)
2 c self-rising flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 c club soda
2 c water

Combine the dry ingredients. Add the club soda and water and mix into a smooth, fairly thin batter.

Heat a large, non-stick skillet. When a drop of water bounces on the pan, dip about 1/2 c of batter and swirl to spread the batter thinly and evenly (maybe you'll be better at making it thin than I was). When the moisture has evaporated and small bubbles appear on the surface, remove the injera. The recipe calls for cooking on only one side. I flipped mine and cooked briefly on the other side, since I had trouble getting them thin.

Stack the injera as you remove them from the skillet and cover with a cloth to keep them from drying out. To serve, lay them on a platter in overlapping circles. Serve the veggies and lentils on top and make a second plate with extras (see photo above).

Potatoes and cabbage (this is my version of "The Africa News"'s Yataklete Kilkil, spiced vegetables)
1/4 lb butter
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1/4 tsp tumeric
1 inch piece of cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 lb new potatoes, halved
a head of cabbage, cut into to thin shreds

1.) Steam the potatoes until tender (about 20 minutes).
2.) Melt the butter over low heat. Add all of the spices and stir to keep from burning. Add the cabbage and saute until wilted and tender.
3.) Add the potatoes and stir to coat the potatoes in the melted butter.
4.) Discard the cinnamon stick before serving.

Yellow Lentils (halved the original recipe)
1 c. orange lentils (I used toor dal)
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh ginger (emergency substitution, I used 1/4 tsp dried ginger powder)
1/2 garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, pounded
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Bring 2 c water to a boil. Add the lentils and the salt. Cook until the lentils are tender (about 30 minutes). Drain and then mash slightly with a fork or potato masher. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Fry the onions until golden. Add the spices and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the lentils, stirring well. Heat until the mixture is thick.