
East Africa · Breakfast
Canjeero (Fermented Sourdough Pancake Bread)
A spongy, tangy sourdough flatbread dotted with uniform eyes, essential for sweet morning tea or savoury stews.
The story
Eaten across every Somali household at dawn, canjeero (or lahooh in northern regions) forms the foundation of the morning meal alongside subag (clarified butter), sugar, and spiced tea. Unlike Ethiopian injera made purely of teff, Somali canjeero incorporates fine cornmeal, sorghum flour, and wheat flour for a lighter, faster-fermenting batter. The starter (cajiin diirran) is carefully nurtured overnight to achieve a gentle, refreshing acidity and micro-aeration before ladling onto a dry griddle.
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