American Indian Food:What the Hell is Indian Fry Bread?

Allright.

I'm going to vent for a moment, so consider this a warning.

After a brief search of HubPages.com, it came to my attention that there was not a decent hub on frybread. There are a couple of mentions, but no real, concise, fact-based history, nor a decent recipe for, frybread. I aim to remedy that in this article.

Who?

American Indians (or Native Americans, for your PC crowd) have been eating frybread for almost 150 years now. We are the people who invented frybread. While there is no documentation of the inventor of frybread, we do know for sure that it is a product of the commodity system of food distribution that is common in lower income communities. Food distribution via the commodity system is still very prevalent on American Indian reservations. It is a way to supply staples such as flour, sugar, coffee, beef, beans and dairy to people who are isolated from supermarkets.

What?

Indian tacos are the universal American Indian dietary staple. They are usually sold at many powwows, rendezvous and rodeos. I have personally stood in line for over an hour at my favorite vendors' tent. They are so good that taco was voted the State Dish of Arizona in 1995. Frybread recipes abound and vary from tribal nation and from family to family. The basic recipe usually calls for flour, water, salt, lard and baking powder. Some call for yeast, milk (dry or wet) or oil. Toppings vary from sweet, such as honey, cinnamon and sugar, powdered sugar or the popular "strawberry shortcake" style to the savory. Frybread is excellent when served with taco fixings, adobos, posole, and different moles. Some recipes are very modern and utilize non-wheat flours or ingredients such as canned or fresh pumpkin. Regardless of the recipe you choose, it takes a bit of practice to perfect your technique.

When?

As I stated earlier, we have only had frybread for about 150 years now, since the Reservation period in the 1860's. Prior to this, we had no sort of bread among the nations of the Great Plains. When the US Government put us onto reservations, the Women, who did almost all of the cooking, faced a great problem. With the buffalo gone, virtually none of the recipes they were accustomed to eating were available. So many of the indigenous plants that are edible grow seasonally or even bi-annually, so food was in real demand.The staples the Government provided in return for the buffalo slaughter were completely foreign. I have been raised with stories of our People encountering white rice for the first time and the People thinking it was dried maggots. So we were having a real tough time.One enterprising Woman must have discovered how to make dough and decided to fry it. I have never heard the story about who "invented" this recipe, but if I find out, I'll update the hub.

Where?

To my knowledge, frybread was "invented" in the Great Plains region of the US. It was not invented by the Cherokees or the Navajos. It has gained popularity through powwows, which are a distinctly Northern American Indian phenomenon.

Why?

Necessity being the mother of invention. We needed to eat and someone discovered how to make this.

How?

Here's my Families' recipe. No foolin'!

Start by making the tacos.

1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix dry ingredients by hand 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 doughy ball.

Flour your hands. But not too much. Now mix the dough, and get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball.

Tear 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. You can use a rolling pin,if you are new, but practice pays off. It's your call.

Heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. Don't let it bur and be sure to replace the oil every couple of pieces of frybread.

Take the formed dough and slip it into the oil, being careful not to splatter the hot oil. Because it hurts when it bites and I'm not liable. Press down on the dough in the center as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take about 3 to 4 minutes.

OK. Now take:

1 pound lean ground meat (beef, buffalo or deer burger)
1 cup diced white onion
4 cooked tacos
1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
3 hothouse tomatoes, diced
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
About 3-4 jalapenos. Fresh beats canned everytime. Don't be lazy.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, brown ground meat and onions until cooked; remove from heat.

Place Fry Bread on separate plates-set one up with paper towels to drain. Layer ground meat, lettuce, tomatoes, Cheddar cheese, and green chiles onto each taco. You can top with sour cream if you are not horribly lactose intolerant, like me.. Serve open-faced with a fork on a sturdy plate to avoid the dreaded "frybread tragedy" or getting a stain on your pants.

So there you have it. What's not to love about the frybread? I mean besides the 800 calories, per piece, before you add the toppings? Not a darn thing. Think I'll fix me one right now!