Persian barbari bread, additionally know as noon-e barbari and nān-e barbari, is a protracted oval flatbread from Iran with indentations within the type of parallel traces operating the size of the bread. These traces make the bread straightforward to tear in numerous shapes and provides extra floor space for its distinctive crust therapy. Along with non-obligatory sesame and nigella seeds, the crust is additional golden and crispy from a glaze of flour, water, and typically baking soda and sugar too. This offers the bread a deep brown Maillard response and a taste deliciously reminiscient of pretzels. The bread is a bit thicker than naan and thinner than focaccia; and the strategy of dimpling the dough is just like Turkish pide, although the sample and crust glazes are totally different.
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Olive oil, feta, cucumber, mint and walnuts
I realized about this bread by way of the “Web rabbit gap analysis technique” whereby I learn Eric Pallant’s visitor weblog put up on the Excellent Loaf: breads-of-morocco/” goal=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>The Breads of Morocco, and have become intrigued by the flatbread m’lawi (meloui, m’semen, malawi). It has olive oil and semolina flour sprinkled into the layers of the bread. Looking for a m’lawi recipe introduced me to the web site The Mediterranean Dish, the place I noticed this tantalizing toasty-brown bread.
Barbari bread was named for the Hazara individuals of Afghanistan who migrated to the Khorasan area of Iran throughout the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925). The Hazara have been known as the Barbari by Iranians and their bread known as nān-e barbari. Hazaras themselves discuss with the bread as nān-e tanūri (tandoor bread). For extra historical past on this bread and the Persian Empire, see this Wikipedia article and National Geographic encyclopedia entry.
I used to be additional intrigued once I noticed baking soda within the dough glaze of many barbari bread recipes. I’ve lengthy contemplated spritzing my enriched doughs with a baking soda resolution to make them bake up extra golden brown. You may examine my quest for a extra golden challah right here: Sourdough Starter and Maillard Response in Enriched Doughs. This glaze jogs my memory of boiling of pretzel dough in baking soda water, an alternative to lye — and all of it makes me ponder how bread strategies, components, and precise sharing of bread tie us all collectively.
Right here’s a brief video highlighting the crunchy sounds of the crust and the gentle chewy crumb. The barbari bread glaze additionally has flour in it, which makes the crust additional crispy.
Flour Substitutions: In contrast to a lot of the barbari bread recipes I discovered on-line, which use industrial yeast and white flour, this recipe makes an attempt a dive into historical past with sourdough leavening and wheats initially from the area. I examined two batches with an 80:20 mixture of all goal flour and complete grain flour. The primary bake used turkey pink wheat, which was initially cultivated in Turkey earlier than transferring into the European bread basket, particularly Ukraine. The second bake used khorasan wheat, which is initially from Khorasan, a area in northwest Iran. The khorasan dough was pale gold and a bit dryer than the turkey pink dough, which had extra seen flecks of pink bran. Each have been tasty! Please notice you should use different wheat varieties and even all white flour. For those who use bread flour as a substitute of all goal flour, you possibly can enhance the water within the dough by 20-40 grams. The goal dough consistency about quarter-hour after mixing is a bit wetter than pizza dough.
Baking Methodology: You can also make this bread on a baking sheet or on a baking stone. If utilizing a stone, plan for an extended preheat to get the stone as much as 450°F and count on your complete bake time to be a bit shorter, round 14 minutes as a substitute of 16 minutes.
See the Photograph Gallery after the recipe for course of pics.
Barbari bread is a standard Persian flatbread with an additional crispy crust from a particular glaze in addition to tasty sesame and nigella seeds. Do that model with the added flavors of sourdough fermentation and khorasan wheat or turkey pink complete grain flours.
Serving Dimension
1/4 of a bread
Elements
Dough
- 400 grams all goal flour (3 cups, rounded)
- 100 grams complete grain flour, check batches made with turkey pink complete grain flour and [khorasan whole grain flour/store/khorasan-whole-grain-flour/] (3/4 cup +1 Tbsp)
- 340 grams water (1 1/3 cup + 1 1/2 Tbsp)
- 100 grams sourdough starter (1/3 cup)
- 13 grams olive oil (1 Tbsp)
- 11 grams salt (2 tsp salt)
Glaze and Topping
- 2 Tbsp water (30 grams)
- 2 Tbsp all goal flour (15 grams)
- 1 tsp baking soda (6 grams)
- 1 tsp sugar (4 grams)
- 2 Tbsp nigella seeds
- 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
Directions
- Combine the dough components in a big bowl and canopy. The dough shouldn’t be shaggy-wet however would not must be dry sufficient to knead by hand. If utilizing a straight-walled container, mark the extent of the dough to trace enlargement.
- Let the dough relaxation quarter-hour, then do a spherical of stretching and folding. After one other remainder of 20-Half-hour, do a second spherical of stretching and folding of the dough.
- Cowl and let the dough rise till it has expanded by 60-80%. My dough rose for about 4 hours in a 75°F kitchen. In order for you an extended rise, both hold the dough colder or use much less sourdough starter. For instance, my second batch had solely 70 grams starter and wanted 6 hours to rise the identical quantity.
- Divide the dough in two items on a evenly floured work floor and pre-shape the 2 items into balls or ovals. Cowl and relaxation the dough for about 20 minutes.
- Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Stretch and flatten the dough into two lengthy ovals rather less than 1″ thick. If the dough feels free or uneven, do an envelope fold on the lengthy aspect, then press it wider once more. In any other case, merely press the dough into a protracted oval form. Switch to the parchment paper.
- With damp fingertips, press traces the size of the dough. Do not lower throughout the dough.
- Cowl the dough both with oiled plastic wrap, a humid material, or by placing the baking sheet inside a big plastic bag–I exploit two tall glasses on both finish of the baking sheet to tent the plastic bag away from the dough.
- Let the dough proof 60-90 minutes relying on the ambient temperature. Each batches of dough rose once more for about 80 minutes in a 75°F kitchen.
- About 20 minutes earlier than the tip of the ultimate proof, start preheating your oven to 450°F and blend up the dough glaze.
- Brush the dough with the glaze, then re-dimple the traces within the dough. Sprinkle on the non-obligatory seeds.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes or till the bread has the colour you need.
- Take pleasure in the identical day for optimum crispiness of the crust, or re-toast on subsequent days.