Fry Bread?

[LovinBeingMommy]

Does anyone here have a good fry bread recipe? My mom adores it, but can't get anyone to share their recipes with her, so we just have to wait until an event like pow wow when people are selling it. I'm finding that Monkey quite likes it, too. I haven't decided. I've had really good fry bread and really awful fry bread.

From what I can gather, fry bread recipes are passed down mother to daughter and very rarely shared outside the family, much less with white people (me). You can buy a mix, but it doesn't taste the same. I know which family makes the *really good* fry bread, but I don't actually *know* any of them. I just recognize them because of their importance in the tribe.

I would really like to learn how to make fry bread so we can have it more than once a year at pow wow, where people are selling it. Can anybody help with that? I'm clueless. I had one offer to teach me, then she never followed through (and hers isn't very good, just better than nothing).

[PrincessAnika]

pioneer woman has a recipe. my dad does something similar, only he just uses a basic white bread dough, rolls it to abt one quarter inch, covers/let rises for half hr, then cut in two inch squares and fry in oil.

[Prism]

I live in New Mexico... we have fry bread coming out our ears. It is at every yard sale, flee markets, every school function/fundraiser, every craft fair and at the county fair, it is also at MOST church functions as well. I have made it a few times as a child, but we didn't really follow a recipe, it was just "add all this" lol The key key key is lots of kneading each individual piece. And also LARD. no other oil will do. It is SO delicious, but soooooooooo bad for you too. lol Our county fair is this week and I really hope to have some there.

[LovinBeingMommy]

Pioneer Woman's is really thin! Looks really crispy and hard in her taco pics, too. Stuff here is usually an inch or more thick. Maybe it's just how she made it... We'll test it and see what happens.

[PrincessAnika]

She made a note it looked crispy but was really soft and pliable. Hope it works!

[Mother of Sons]

I used to make it'll a lot. It is a very basic recipe. I think I posted it here awhile back.

[Macky]

Is fry bread the same as bannock?

[me]

yep, lard!
This one looks like the type you are describing:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fry-Bre...RelatedRecipes

But this one has lard in the recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fry-bread-ii/
plus, its described as flat bread or a sopapilla. A sopapilla has the same type of puffiness. Doesnt have a pic, but i would try this one.

I grew up having sopapillas and also having fry bred from the pueblos. I always preferred fry bread that was thick and fluffy. not pliable.
where i live now. they make the same thing but call it Johnny cakes. they are pretty much small sopapillas. the best ones i have had here, were made with an egg. yep, an egg in the ingredients. of course, the recipe was not shared but they were kind enough to point me in the right direction i cant find any recipes with an egg. when i do. i think that will be the one for me.lol
That is if you like them puffy like i do.

[LovinBeingMommy]

That first one looks like what we have around here. I think it's funny they call it frybread tacos. We call them Indian tacos here. I've never seen anything but puffy frybread.

Maybe you could try adding egg to one of the basic recipes?

[canadiyank]

Not sure what bannock is but we have lots of fry bread around here, too. Man, I can taste it right now. Yum!

[me]

Originally Posted by LovinBeingMommy

That first one looks like what we have around here. I think it's funny they call it frybread tacos. We call them Indian tacos here. I've never seen anything but puffy frybread.

Maybe you could try adding egg to one of the basic recipes?

ive had some fry bread that was more like flat bread? didnt care for it.
I did try adding an egg to a basic recipe. It worked. it fluffed a flat recipe up nicely. It came out more like a fluffy fried breakfast doughnut though. So i wont share that one. Next time i will try to add an egg to a recipe that kneaded more. I'll share if it comes out good

I didnt know what bannock was either so i googled.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannock_(food)
looks like it is baked? from google pics, i think bannock is closer to breads like for kabobs. or can be kind of cake like??? A bit different than how i think of fry bread.

[momyshaver]

[Macky]

The folks I know fry the bannock, which is why I asked. I've had it fried and I've had it wrapped around a stick and cooked over a campfire. I've never personally seen it baked and it most definitely is not cake-like. It's more like a tender flatbread. I've had bannock at the home of a Métis school chum (when we were in grade school, her mum was Cree, I think it was made with real lard) and I've had it prepared by a canoe outfitter while on a 10-day wilderness trip up north (not sure what the fat source was there, but his wife made all sorts of scratch mixes for his trips, lots of dehydrated foods, deer jerky, etc.). Okay, now *I* have to find a recipe...

[me]

Glad you read all my ???, about it cause all the google picks I saw were waaaay off.
I'd love to see a pic and try a recipe. Sounds yummy

[Macky]

Found this video... this is how I remember bannock (it's been a looong time)! I think the recipes that add lard are those that are baked or done on a stick on the campfire. If you're going to fry it, added fat to the batter is probably overkill. I like that all the ingredients are dry; I remember measuring lake water into the bag and mushing it around to mix it up. Imnsho, peanut butter is the best topping... when you've been paddling hard all day and feel starved.

ETA: And... bannock on a stick! Ah, memories. You know, all the bannock links I've been finding that are familiar mention the Cree, which is the predominant First Nation in my area, as far I as I know. I wonder if bannock varies by First Nation?