Name: Canjeero
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Somali
Ingredients: 2 cups sorghum flour (or a mix of teff and all-purpose flour); 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 2 cups warm water; 1 tsp active dry yeast; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 tsp sugar; Note: Traditional batter ferments 24-48 hours. For a quick version, use the baking powder method below.; Quick version: add 1.5 tsp baking powder instead of yeast, skip fermentation

Somalia's tangy fermented flatbread — spongy, slightly sour, cooked in one pan, eaten at every meal from breakfast to dinner.

The Cultural Story

Canjeero (also called injera in Ethiopia, lahooh in Yemen) is one of Africa's great breads — and Somalia's version has its own distinct character. The batter is made from sorghum or teff flour, fermented for 24-48 hours until it develops a mild, pleasantly sour flavor. It cooks in a large flat pan without oil, the surface developing signature bubbles that give it its spongy, porous texture. That porosity is the point: it is designed to soak up suqaar juices, dip into rice, scoop up beans. Canjeero is eaten at breakfast with tea, honey, and butter. At lunch and dinner it replaces utensils. In Somali tradition, sharing food from the same canjeero is an act of intimacy and trust. The fermentation process connects it to a tradition of bread-making that predates civilization in the Horn of Africa.

Ingredients

2 cups sorghum flour (or a mix of teff and all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups warm water
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Note: Traditional batter ferments 24-48 hours. For a quick version, use the baking powder method below.
Quick version: add 1.5 tsp baking powder instead of yeast, skip fermentation

Instructions

1Combine sorghum flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add yeast to warm water and let foam for 5 minutes.
2Combine wet and dry ingredients. Whisk until smooth with no lumps — the batter should be thinner than pancake batter, more like heavy cream.
3Cover with a damp cloth and ferment at room temperature for 24-48 hours. The batter will bubble and smell pleasantly sour. This sourness is what you are building.
4When ready to cook, heat a flat non-stick pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Do not grease it.
5Pour a ladleful of batter from the center outward in a spiral motion. The batter should spread on its own into a thin, even circle.
6Cook on one side only until the surface is full of bubbles and the edges are set and no longer shiny, about 2-3 minutes. Do not flip. Slide off with a spatula. Stack and serve warm.

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