Monday, June 28, 2010

Gluten Free Navajo Fry Bread

Last night I had a craving for bread to go with dinner. My bread machine is in storage along with my nice mixer. I do have the hand held mixer that likes gluten free globs of dough to climb up the beaters and into the holes of the mixer. But that is too much work. I really need to think of a guard for that area. (think, think, think!) Instead of fussing with all of that, I searched the web for Indian Fry Bread and converted it. Now this hit the spot and was yummy. It was quick and easy.

After eating this with dinner, I started thinking of other wonderful bread stuff. I always wanted to make a sourdough starter. After being diagnosed with Celiac, I thought that would never happen. There was nothing out on the web about it then. Now there is! I am looking forward to doing more research and seeing if I have the room right now to take care of a sourdough starter. I may have to wait for now.

Here is the link that I converted the recipe from

If the link didn't work, here is the address: http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/NavajoFryBread.htm


Gluten Free version of Navajo Fry Bread
(originally written by Cynthia Detterick-Pineda)

1 cup GF flour blend (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour Blend)
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp ground flax seed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup water

oil for frying

Sift together the flour, xanthum gum, flax seed, 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 or other large fryer. (I only added about a large spoon full of shortening)

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 Cynthia for your easy to follow directions.) =)

1 comment:

Sheri said...

I have deleted a comment, because there was a sales pitch to purchase a book that they were selling. I am sure they are a nice person, and what they have to sell is very helpful. But the way the economy is presently, I would hope that people would be encouraged to share what they know, not to make a profit.

If one is willing to research and maybe experiment, the answers eventually come.