Product Review: Tobia Teff

I first sampled Ethopian food two years ago – whilst in London with a friend, we were feeling adventurous and wandered into Addis for a little something to eat. 

We found ourselves sampling incredible food – vegan for the most part – served on injera, a flat spongy bread made from a traditional flour that is both used as your plate and in place of your knife and fork. Tear, pinch, eat. It was an eye opener and something we hoped to do again. 

Fast forward a couple of years and in the wake of the trends to find gluten free options to wheat, and for ancient grains (spelt, quinoa, chia and millet) it appears it’s teff’s turn to shine. Not only that, there’s a distinct trend for Ethiopian food, tempting me to fire up Google (other search engines are available) and hit the kitchen.

Teff comes in five different forms. There’s the whole grain, which can be used like rice or quinoa. Flakes which can be used in porridge. Flour which can be used in baking. And milk – much like soy milk or oat milk. Tobia Teff have both the brown and white flour, flakes, milk and a range of their own baked breads and cakes (including injera) for you to buy, and were kind enough to send me some of the flour and flakes for me to try for myself. 

Injera was first on the list, mostly because it takes a couple of days to make. You mix the batter and leave it, covered with a teatowel to collect natural yeasts from your environment, much like a sourdough. If you’re lucky you might find bubbles forming after 24 hours, but two, even three days is quite normal. I set my batter going following the traditional method you can find here. 

While that sat in the kitchen hunting yeast, I moved to the flakes.  

As a porridge they’re lovely, lightly grainy, and with a nutty flavour. I’ve described it as quinoa, Weetabix and oats having a love child, because you get a light touch of the nuttiness you get from the cereal, the texture is a little more like quinoa, but teff mixes and is as flexible as oats. As a porridge you simply spoon into a bowl, add milk and pop in the microwave for a couple of minutes. I added fruit for sweetness, and Greek yogurt for protein and I’m happy to swap out my oats for a different texture and flavour. 

Their similarity to oats also made me question if I could use them in another favourite breakfast. Nic’s Nutrition has a great three ingredient protein pancake recipe, which uses eggs, oats and Fage Greek yogurt. Would teff work in this too? I dug out the blender.

The answer is absolutely. Swapping out the oats and using teff flakes means there’s a hint of sweet nuttiness to the pancakes. Top them with berries, and more yogurt, or drizzle with honey or maple syrup. Either way, there’s an easy protein packed recipe ready to go. 

Two days later and I checked on my injera batter. It wasn’t going well. I dug out my bakers’ yeast and gave it a helping hand. 

Once the injera has bubbled and you’re ready to cook, you add a little more water to thin it down, and pop a frying pan on the heat. Pour in enough batter to cover and use a lid so that it steams. The texture is bubbly and soft. I admit, it took three goes to get the consistency right, but I just about made it.

And once I’d made dishes including lamb berebere stew (you can find the spice mixes here), tikil gomen (carrot and cabbage in tumeric, recipe here) and yesimir wot (a spicy lentil dish, recipe here). A true feast for the tastebuds. 

I don’t mind admitting I’m a convert. Not only do I need to make injera again (I will perfect it), but the stews and dishes from Ethiopia are absolutely delicious – even if I have to make my own spice blend. And I cannot wait to try the flakes and flour in cakes.

Whoever said healthy had to be boring was very, very wrong. 

With huge amounts of thanks to Tobia for introducing us to the products, these are going on the staples list in our house!