Navajo Fry Bread

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INGREDIENTS

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2 cups flour

3¼ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1¼ cups milk, lukewarm

3 cups vegetable oil

¼ cup flour

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Serves 4. Takes 40 minutes.

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PREPARATION

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Add 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt to large mixing bowl. Mix with fork or whish until well blended. Gradually add milk. Mix with hands after each addition. Knead for 5 minutes or until a smooth dough ball forms.

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Divide dough ball into 4 mini dough balls. Spread ¼ cup flour onto flat surface. Add mini dough balls. Flatten mini dough balls into discs ¼” thick. Let sit for 5 minutes. Make a tiny hole in the middle of the discs. (This prevents the discs from ballooning into a circle.)

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Add oil to large pan. Heat oil using medium-high heat until a bit of dough in the oil will start to dance. Gently add 1 dough disc into oil. Use spatula to press down on disc so that it is covered by oil. Fry dough disc for 0.5-to-2 minutes or until bubbles form on the top and the bottom turns golden brown. Carefully turn disc over with 1 or 2 spatulas. Fry until new bottom turns golden brown and the top bubbles.) Remove fry breads from heat and drain on paper towels. Repeat for remaining discs. Frying times might decrease with each fry bread.

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Use fry breads to make Navajo tacos or top them with honey or confectioners’ sugar to make a tasty dessert.

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TIDBITS

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1) The Navajo fry bread in the above picture is golden brown.

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2) The CL, Chef Legislature, mandates that all cooks know what Golden Brown means and how to bake and fry flour so that these dishes all come out Golden Brown.

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3) The CPD, Chef Police Department, will come for you if you don’t cook bread Golden Brown.

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4) On the other hand, if you master the art of cooking bread Golden Brown, everybody will love you. Crime in your neighborhood will fall to zero. Every financial decision will be golden. You will find gold nuggets just lying around as you take your daily walk. Anybody you fancy will desire your body, and you will be able to do the New York Times’ crossword puzzle.

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– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.