Fry Bread Hisory

Health and diet-conscious people will note that fry bread is not very "healthy" food, with its high-fat content,
and nothing but white flour. (The milk is water in more trad rez recipes. Who could get milk? Now you can get
commodities powdered milk. For kids/school affairs, I add extra dried milk powder if I can get it) Frybread was
developed by Indian women in response to commodities issue on early reservations, which included little
more than flour, salt, sugar, coffee, and corn oil. It does taste quite good, and is very individual even though
almost everybody uses just about the same proportions of ingredients because it tastes different according to
how you knead and shape it (and what kind of oil it's fried in). Frybread began as Indian women making the
best of what was often poor-quality issue of rations in the new prison camps (reservations). The traditional
part -- frying in oil -- does predate rations, using bear and deer tallow to fry cakes made of various seed meals,
but frying in deep oil post-dates iron frypans obtained in trade goods.

FRYBREAD POWER!

Chippewa Indian Fry Bread

2 1/2 c All-purpose flour

1 1/2 tb Baking powder

1 ts Salt

3/4 c Warm water

1 tb Vegetable oil

1 tb Nonfat dry milk powder

Vegetable oil (for deep

frying)

Cinnamon sugar

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Combine water, oil and dry milk powder and stir into
flour mixture until smooth dough forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead 4 times into smooth

ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough into 8 balls. Flatten with fingertips or roll out each ball to
form 8- to 10-inch round. Make small hole in center of each with finger or handle of wooden spoon. Lightly
flour rounds, stack and cover with towel or plastic wrap. Heat about 1 inch oil to 375 F in 1 bread round in hot
fat and cook until golden and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining
dough. Serve bread hot or at room temperature, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Yield: 8 servings

Fry Bread #2 Potawatomi

3 cups of bread flour

3 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of sugar

2 cups of warm milk

2 Tablespoons of melted bacon fat (or melted shortening)

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the milk and melted fat. Stir well. Put on a well floured surface and
knead in the flour to make a soft dough. Shape round and about 1/2-inch thick. Fry in deep fat until golden
brown. Serve hot. Yield: 6 servings

Fry Bread Animosh

Frybread animosh (dogs): This is like corn dogs. The dough is rolled out into a 1/2-inch thick wrapper for
each hot dog. Grill the hot dogs first, then place on wrapper and seal. Pinch tightly closed along seam and
ends. Use more salt in dough -- about 1 tsp in proportion to my batch ingredients. The above batch will do
about 2 dozen - 30 dogs. Yield: 24

Fry Bread New

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dry milk

1 egg

1 cup warm water

Mix the dry ingredients together, mix the egg and the water, add to the dry mixture.

*Add flour or water to adjust mixture to a very soft dough mixture. Roll out to about a 1 inch thickness.

*Let set for about 15 minutes. Cut into what ever size you would like, I like to do mine in smaller pieces for
dipping into wojapi. You could get about 24 pieces out of this batter. Deep fry in hot oil, just enough to
brown on each side. Put on a paper towel to get some of the top oil off the bread. Yield: 2

Fry Bread Ojibwe

Flour (5# Bag)

Salt (Approximately 1 Teaspoon)

Baking Powder (2 Teaspoons)

2 Cup Water (Warmed)

1 Cup Milk (Warmed)Lard (1#)

1. Put the entire amount of Flour into a large mixing bowl.

2. Make a well in the middle of flour.Pour in the warmed liquids

3. Add the salt and baking powder.

4. Mix with a large spoon slowly adding in flour from the sides (similar

to mixing a cake by hand). Keep adding flour until you feel you can

start to knead it by hand.

5. Knead until it doesn't stick to your hand. Then let the dough rest for

1/2 hour.

6. Beak off golf ball size of dough and put on a floured plate.

7. Heat the lard in a large cast iron skillet.

Note: To test the temperature of the lard, sprinkle drops of water on

the lard. If it dances quickly, the bread frying is ready to begin.

8. Flatten your individual balls of dough and fry on both sides to a

golden brown.

9. Adjust your heat as needed.

Yield: 10

Fry Bread, My Verson

1 4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 2 tbsp baking powder

1 1/4 cup oil

1/2 to 1 cup powdered milk (don't use the commercial kind, if you can get commodity) 2 cups water (a little
more if more milk is used) Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, make a well in it and pour in the water and oil.
Knead thoroughly to a stiff dough. Add more flour -- it shouldn't be sticky. Flour in bread varies by moisture
in the air. Take a handful and pat it into a flat round with a depression in both sides of the center, or make a
twisted round. Depending on the shape and how much you knead and twist and pull it, the fry bread will taste
quite different. Slap it around plenty, and make sure that dought isn't sticky. For Indian tacos (or to serve
with wojape berry pudding over it), make a flat taco, about 8-9" in diameter and 1 1/2" thick at the edges, with
a depression in the center of both sides (to hold the sauce). Fry it in hot oil, either a fryer or frypan with at
least 1 1/2" of oil in it. Keep crumbs and such skimmed off the oil. Oil temperature should be about 375, not
smoking. Breads will puff and turn golden. Flip over to fry on both sides. Remove to drain on paper, don't
stack them on top of each other until cool. Even if you're going to make thousands for a powwow, this is
about the right size for a working batch. Make batch after batch after batch..... It will be noticeable that the
ones different people shape come out different even if making them from the same dough. If feeding kids,

work more powdered milk into it. How many it makes depends on the size you make them. Cleanup and
saving the frying oil: skim out all crumbs on the top. Cut up an apple and fry slices in the fat. Cool it. Pour
through a funnel lined with a cloth towel back into can, discarding the brown sludge at the

bottom. Yield: 24

Indian Popovers (Indian Tacos)

1 recipe Frybread dough (your favorite baking powder based recipe)

1 lb. Coarse ground beef

1 Jalapeno, chopped

1 Onion, minced

1 package Taco seasoning

1 can Green Enchilada Sauce

1/2 can water

1 can Pinto beans, drained

Cheddar &/or Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

Tomato(s), diced

Lettuce, shredded

Oil (for deep frying)

"Brown" the ground beef until done, then drain off the grease. Add the jalapeno, onion, taco seasoning,
enchilada sauce, and 1/2 can of water. Cook this mixture according to the instructions on the taco seasoning
package. Add the pinto beans and heat through. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Portion out the
frybread dough so that you end up with 8" diameter circles of rolled dough 1/4-1/2" inch thick. Spoon some
of the meat mixture onto half a rolled out piece of dough, sprinkle with the shredded cheese (if desired), and
fold the other half over to form a half-moon-shaped turnover. Seal the edges by crimping with the tines of a
fork. Deep fry the popover as you would the fry bread (until golden brown). Drain on paper towels. The meat
and cheese will be nice and hot. Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, more onions, and taco sauce (store bought) as
desired. This is a favorite at all of our Oglala powwows!

Navajo Fry Bread

1 cup white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup honey

vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients. Add water to dry ingredients, mix well. Knead dough on a floured board till it becomes
elastic. Let dough rest 10 minutes, covered. Roll out dough till it is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into squares or

circles. Deep-fry at 370F till golden brown; drain on paper towels. Drizzle with honey and serve. Yield: 4
servings