Kitcha

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• about 300 ml warm water

To finish

• niter kibbeh, melted
• berbere, optional

To serve

• hilbet
• shiro
• tea

Directions

1. Mix the flour and salt, then add the warm water gradually and bring it together into a soft dough.
2. There is no yeast and no raising agent at all, which is what unleavened means here, and there is nothing to wait for.
3. Knead it for 5 minutes until smooth, then rest it 10 minutes under a cloth.
4. Divide it into four and roll each into a thin round about 20 cm across and 3 mm thick.
5. Roll it thin and roll it evenly. Kitcha is a thin griddle bread and thick patches stay doughy in the middle.
6. Heat a heavy flat pan or a clay mogogo over a medium heat, with no fat.
7. A dry pan, not an oiled one. This is a griddle bread rather than a fried one, and oil makes it heavy and stops it blistering.
8. Cook each round for 2 to 3 minutes a side, pressing it down with a cloth as bubbles rise.
9. Pressing the bubbles down as they form is what gives the even scorched spotting rather than one large dome.
10. It is done when both sides are dry with dark brown blisters and the bread feels light.
11. Stack the finished breads under a cloth as you go, which keeps them pliable.
12. For the simplest service, brush a hot kitcha with melted niter kibbeh and eat it torn, with tea.
13. It is also the base of kitcha fit-fit, where it is torn up and tossed with spiced butter and berbere, and much of the kitcha made in Eritrean homes ends up that way.
14. Serve it with hilbet, the whipped fenugreek and faba bean paste, or with shiro.

Technique

• It is quick precisely because it is unleavened, which is why it is the everyday bread where injera is the occasion one.
• The traditional cooking surface is the mogogo, a large clay griddle also used for injera.
• It goes stale fast, which is one reason fit-fit exists.

Substitutions

• A cast iron pan or a heavy crepe pan.
• Half wholemeal flour, which is closer to the older village bread.

Variations

• Brushed with niter kibbeh and dusted with berbere.
• Torn into kitcha fit-fit.
• Made thicker, closer to a flatbread eaten with stew.

History

Unlike injera it needs no three-day fermentation, so it is baked quickly for unexpected guests and for breakfast fit-fit.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kitcha?

Kitcha is a bread & pastry from Eritrea: thin unleavened wheat griddle bread, torn for fit-fit or brushed with spiced butter. Unlike injera it needs no three-day fermentation, so it is baked quickly for unexpected guests and for breakfast fit-fit.

How long does Kitcha take to make?

Kitcha takes 15 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 breads. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kitcha?

Yes, within limits. A cast iron pan or a heavy crepe pan. Half wholemeal flour, which is closer to the older village bread.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kitcha?

A dry pan, not an oiled one. This is a griddle bread rather than a fried one, and oil makes it heavy and stops it blistering.