Teff Flour

Teff is an annual cereal grass native to Eritrea and Ethiopia that is cultivated for its seeds. It is one of the earliest domesticated plants and is an important crop due to it’s adaptability in many growing conditions, ease of cooking and versatility. It’s know as the smallest grain in the world and is less than 1mm in diameter. Teff is used as a food, straw, and as a building material. The seeds are high in carbohydrates, protein, fiber and minerals, and are naturally gluten free.

Teff seeds can be cooked similarly to millet or quinoa, but are much smaller so they require less cooking time. Because the seed size is so small, teff flour cannot be refined into bran, germ, and endosperm, so all teff flour is high in fiber. There are three main varieties of teff: white, red, and brown. Ivory teff is the variety most used in flours, but you can find blends of the whole seeds online as well. The flavor is nutty, mild, and slightly sweet.

Common uses for teff include porridge, fermented flatbread (injera), and as a flour in gluten free baking mixes. Teff is also included in a home-brewed beer recipe common in Eritrea and Ethiopia called t’alla or tella. T’alla is made with gesho leaves, from shiny-leaf buckthorn. However, the brew can often include barley, so it’s unfortunately not always gluten free.

In the gluten free brewing industry, malted teff is becoming a popular option for home brewers when replacing malted barley. Due to teff’s nutritional profile, resistance to pests during storage, and high amounts of simple sugars and amino acids, it’s an ideal option for the malting process. For more information, I recommend reading this article.

Teff flour recipes:

• Banana almond teff porridge from Eating Bird Food

• Vegan mocha apricot pie from Teffco

• Soaked teff millet bread from Tessa Domestic Diva

• Vegan brownies from Healthy Slow Cooking

• Basic teff cooking instructions from Teff Tribe

• One-bowl chocolate peanut butter cake from Bojon Gourmet

• Teff almond butter cookies from Salted Plains

• Teff ‘polenta’ bowl from Cooking Light

• Teff idli from Cookilicious

Traditional teff recipes that are naturally gluten free:

• Foolproof quick injera from Time for Change Kitchen

• Injera that uses a gluten free sourdough starter from Cultures for Health

• Hirshon Ethiopian injera from The Food Dictator

• Teff kal kal, a twist on a traditional Indian Christmas cookie from Teffco

• Fermented spicy teff porridge, a teff version of Hausa Koko from The Canadian African