Easy Authentic Injera Recipe

Learn to make Injera flatbread and other Ethiopia recipes

By Kenny Coogan
Updated on January 6, 2024
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by Magicbones

“Ethiopian food is very delicious, cooked fresh daily, and well-seasoned. The flavors make it unique,” says Athena Dulle, co-owner of Mitmita Ethiopian restaurant in Tampa, FL. Dulle operates the restaurant with her husband, Tarrkegne Mehari, who is primarily the chef, while Dulle focuses on the injera and customers. Dulle was born and raised in Ethiopia and moved to the United States in 2006.

Ethiopian meals traditionally have a lot of vegetables for a couple of reasons. The first is because it is cheaper than meat. Dulle says that most Ethiopians cannot afford to buy meat every day. Many households grow collard greens, tomatoes, carrots, and other root vegetables in their backyard.

“We eat everything by the season,” Dulle says. “I remember my grandpa had a farm, and we had a wheat season, barley season, lentil season, and sweet potato season.”

The second reason that many Ethiopian recipes are vegetarian and vegan is that most Ethiopians used to be Orthodox Christians.

“As Orthodox Christians, we must fast. When we fast, we cannot have meat,” Dulle explains. “No chicken broth, beef broth, dairy, and no silverware contamination. It must be vegan. Most of the time, we fast. We fast for Easter,

Wednesdays, and Fridays — there’s this fast and that fast. I think maybe two months in the entire year, we’re free. We can eat anything. But the rest of the year, we fast.”

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