Hmmmm. I love Ethiopian food and I don’t find it to be hot. I find it to be very savory, spicy, and flavorful, but not hot/spicy. Indian food is spicy and hot. I also like Injera the spongy-textured, but not sponge-flavored, bread that comes with it. It helps that the bread is spongy in texture, because most Ethiopian food is like stew, so it’s a bit runny, the injera is used in place of utensils to pick it up and mop up the juices.
Some people are afraid to try it, because they think it will be hot. Some people are afraid to try it, because it doesn’t look like anything they are used to (except maybe baby food).
Not sure where people are getting the idea that the flavor of injera is bland. It is rather boldy flavored. It is made with Teff flour, which tastes very similar to sourdough. You’ll either like it or hate it. Not much middle ground with injera.
Eithiopian food is served on one big piece of injera, and then you are given more rolled up pieces of injera to tear off to scoop up your Wat (Eithiopian stew dishes). Here is a plate of different kinds of Wat served on a piece of injera.
You might have fun making Eithiopian food at home, but it’s best to try it at an Eithiopian or Eritrean restaurant first, so you can see how it’s supposed to look and taste, and to see how they serve it and eat it with the injera.
There are lots of vegetarian wats if you want to make some at home. Here are a few that you would commonly find at an Ethiopian restaurant:
Kik Alicha (split peas)
Ye’abesha Gomen (collard greens)
Mesir Wat (red lentils)
Atakilt Wat (carrot, potato, and cabbage)
Shiro Wat (chickpeas)
Was the fruit you saw possibly an Annona Squamosa, also known as a sugar apple, or sweetsop? They’re from Cambodia.
The first thing I thought of was a Cherimoya, but although the seeds are encased in a white pulp, the seeds are dark in color.
Or was it, perhaps, a Salak
I think you’re right that it probably was a jackfruit.