Kategna is injera spread with berbere-spiced butter and toasted until crisp — a spicy, crunchy snack or accompaniment to coffee.
Kategna is a way to repurpose day-old injera. Instead of eating it soft (as with wat), the injera is spread with spiced butter and berbere, then toasted until completely crisp. It becomes a crunchy, spicy snack — Ethiopia's answer to chips or crackers.
A crisp, papery sheet of spiced injera — crunchy, intensely berbere-flavored, with the richness of spiced butter. Snapped into pieces and eaten with coffee. Addictive.
Toasting drives off the injera's remaining moisture, turning the spongy texture into a crisp cracker. The berbere's spices are carried by the butter's fat, which permeates the injera during toasting.
Variations
Some use awaze paste instead of berbere; the crispiness level varies.
On the Palate
Where Kategna sits in the Ethiopian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
6 steps · 20 min active + 10 min waiting
- 12 min
Take day-old injera (slightly dried).
- 23 min
Mix berbere with melted niter kibbeh.
- 32 min
Spread the spicy butter mixture on the injera.
- 410 min
Place on a hot griddle; toast until completely crisp.
Watch outToast the injera on a hot griddle until it's crisp right through and snaps — any bend left in the middle means it'll go leathery, not cracker-crisp.
- 51 min
Break into pieces.
- 61 min
Serve with coffee as a snack.
