The
bread used to sop up the runny spicy gack is called "
injeli". It is greyish in
colour, spongy in
texture, and a bit sour in
flavour. Really quite good.
It is made from a very fine African grain called "teff". I have tried cooking teff on its own. Ack. It is better with a mixture of grains of various sizes such as spelt, various rices, barley and so on. Best left for bread making really.
The runny spicy gack might contain lamb, goat, beef, or chicken. P_I is right, often a hard-boiled egg or two might be flung in as well. This is especially alarming somehow if it is chicken gack. Vegetarian varities of brown gack will tend to centre around lentils or chickpeas.
Often the meal is served in a chipped enameled metal wash basin with an injeli in the centre and gack ladled here and there with perhaps a lime chutney. Some restaurants drape a few injeli on the sides of the basin. Once I was offered an unpeeled banana as an appetizer. The waiter pulled it from his pocket.
I recommend beer with this food. Lots of beer.