HikeArizona.COM

Does anyone have a good recipe for indian frybread? I have one. Made it, fried it, but it came out like a round, heavy piece of...fried bread. It tasted great, but wasn't airy like what you get a the fair. The recipe was for frybread, but it said for indian frybread, don't let the dough rise. ALL I WANT IS SOOM DAMN FRY BREAD!!!

It can't be too hard, I just never tried. But I bet cooking in lard could be the secret.
I'll be more than happy to help ya eat them though.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/ ... yBread.htm

Also check out a sopapilla recipe since they're pretty much the same thing.

My only recipe uses 10 pounds of flour--it came from a friend and was used for fundraisers! We had to borrow use of a Hobart mixer from a pizza place to mix the dough

i heard that using biscuit dough (not the flaky kind) is good.
spread each biscuit flat, about 1/4" thickness, then poke a hole in it with a finger, right in the center. this allows the oil to flow over the top, and prevents a convex shape that wont cook well.

i've never tried it, got the tip from an old camping book that lies somewhere around here.. may have been 'camping in arizona' by az highways.

I've made Navajo fry bread before and I swear the secret is using a heavy and well-seasoned cast iron skillet. This is the recipe I got from my Navajo friends in Monument Valley area:

1 Cup unbleached flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tsp Powdered milk
1 Tsp baking powder
1/2 cup water
Oil for frying

Sift together the flour, salt, powdered milk, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour the water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with a fork until it starts to form one big clump.

Flour your hands. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. NOTE: You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it. Kneading it will make for a heavy Fry Bread when cooked. The inside of the dough ball should still be sticky after it is formed, while the outside will be well floured.

Cut the dough into four (4) pieces. Using your floured hands, shape, stretch, pat, and form a disk of about 5 to 7 inches in diameter. NOTE: Don’t worry about it being round.

Heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. NOTE: You can check by either dropping a small piece of dough in the hot oil and seeing if it begins to fry, or by dipping the end of a wooden spoon in and seeing if that bubbles. Your oil should be about 1-inch deep in a large cast-iron skillet.

Take the formed dough and gently place it into the oil, being careful not to splatter the hot oil. Press down on the dough as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil. Fry until brown, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take about 3 to 4 minutes.

Indian Fry Bread can be kept warm in a 200 degree F. oven for up to 1 hour. They refrigerate well and can be reheated in a 350 degree F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Thank you guys and gals. I think the trick is a cast iron skillet and getting the dough flat enough. The 2 recipes above are the same. Tried them and worked great, just need to use my cast iron skillet next time. :thanx:

@te-wa
I'm going to try that. That just sounds good with butter and cinnamon sugar.

kevinweitzel75 wrote:@te-wa
I'm going to try that. That just sounds good with butter and cinnamon sugar.

And a quadruple bypass!

Sredfield wrote:

kevinweitzel75 wrote:@te-wa
I'm going to try that. That just sounds good with butter and cinnamon sugar.

And a quadruple bypass!

Now now....at least I didn't put down LARD for frying as originally given to me in the recipe and substitute a mix of canola oil and olive oil. I rarely fry anything but admit to making the fry bread in lard before :guilty: It is OH so good. The problem is that canola and olive oil have a lower smoke temperature so it's easy to overheat any oil and burn the bread. Everything is OK in moderation!

Never had frybread made by a non-native that tasted any good. I think you need to learn under the tutelage of an expert to become a frybread master.

Rob, that must be the reason it isn't called "white guy fry bread".

Rob del Desierto wrote:Never had frybread made by a non-native that tasted any good.

Maybe they weren't using lard. I've had mixed results. A couple times I've made it as good as any I've ever had. Not every time, though.

te-wa wrote:Rob, that must be the reason it isn't called "white guy fry bread".

I had a Navajo stop by yesterday and give us an invite to a biz opening reception today.
Navajo taco lunch from 11 to 1. He said it's his recipes for the bread and beef, plus he doesn't use lettuce but some other green thing at which my brain just went blah blah blah.

te-wa wrote:Rob, that must be the reason it isn't called "white guy fry bread".

Thats what I'm calling mine.

Alston Neal wrote:I had a Navajo stop by yesterday and give us an invite to a biz opening reception today.
Navajo taco lunch from 11 to 1. He said it's his recipes for the bread and beef, plus he doesn't use lettuce but some other green thing at which my brain just went blah blah blah.

Now that sounds good...well, depending on what the "green stuff" is.

Sredfield wrote:kevinweitzel75 wrote:
@te-wa
I'm going to try that. That just sounds good with butter and cinnamon sugar.
And a quadruple bypass!

Could always try the deep fried butter at the fair.

If you are 'jonesing' sometime and need a quick fix, there is Cafe Laguna @ Power & Baseline or Fry Bread House East @ Dobson & Baseline, but home-made items are always better once you get it 'down'.

hikeaz wrote:If you are 'jonesing' sometime and need a quick fix, there is Cafe Laguna @ Power & Baseline or Fry Bread House East @ Dobson & Baseline, but home-made items are always better once you get it 'down'.

Fry Bread House East is right near where I work and I can confirm it is "yummy"!

Rob del Desierto wrote:Never had frybread made by a non-native that tasted any good. I think you need to learn under the tutelage of an expert to become a frybread master.

Next year at Chaco, we'll make some Navajo tacos.

Diabetes on a plate.