Fry Bread Mmm....

If there is one thing we have consistently heard about as a class, its Fry Bread! I was intrigued by the character's use of fry bread as an emotional marker. Both good and bad things are associated with the staple food of the reservation in "Smoke Signals." Fry bread is present when Victor is reliving his mistreatment of Thomas and it is present in Thomas' retelling of the feeding of the five thousand (American Indian style of course). I chose this topic because it reminded me of my great-grandmothers "ho-cake" (Yes, "ho-cake"). It was basically bleached white flour, water, and lard. Grandma Sadie would knead the dough with her beautiful Southern-Irish hands and then fry it in bubbling vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet that was almost too heavy for me to carry. It is arguably one of the most unhealthy things one can possibly consume, but it is oh-so-tasty.

Even with the recent inflation of wheat and dairy products, fry bread is incredibly inexpensive to make and probably very filling. While it can be a bit bland if made improperly, its simple nature makes it easy to "spice up." For example, adding powdered sugar and dark, melted chocolate makes one very tempting dessert!

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying
Extra flour to flour your hands

Preparation:

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 well. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. 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. Don’t worry about it being round. As Grandma Felipa would say “it doesn’t roll into your mouth.” In a deep heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. You can check if you oil is hot enough 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 or other large heavy pot. 

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 approximately 3 to 4 minutes to cook.  Place the cooked Fry Bread on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

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.

(http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/NavajoFryBread.htm)