Fry Bread

Last night April Sanchez and her mom came to my house to teach our little skills group how to make real navajo fry bread. Sorry I don't have any pics; I was having so much fun that I forgot to take some. Apparently the first thing in making good fry bread is to have the right kind of flour. They had us get bluebird flour and you know what, it does feel different. I have never felt flour so fine and soft. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients together. Then you add the water the right way which means making a well in the center and then slowly adding flour from the sides o the well with your hand. After this, you add the remaining flour by pulling it in from the sides of the bowl towards the center as you rotate the bowl. They said this is like life in that we should bring all things evenly into our hearts and that if you don't turn the bowl its like becoming too focused on one area of your life and becoming out of balance. Keep kneading it until it gets smooth (I don't know what you would call the consistency). They were telling us that how your heart is will be reflected in how the dough turns out. If you are angry or stressed while making it, the dough will be hard, but if you're happy, then the dough will turn out perfect. Let is sit for 30 minutes, at least, in an air tight bag. We watched part of a bollywood film while we waited for our dough and got so wrapped up in the movie that our dough sat for an hour. After it has had a chance to sit, tear off a golf ball size piece and knead that in your hands for a little bit. Flatten out the edges first then the center. The way they flattened the center involves flopping it over your hands as you also rotate it towards you. I wasn't very good at that part. Before putting it in the pan, you have to tear a tiny hole in the middle which keeps the dough from rising in the middle while its frying. Then you just fry it up and put what you want on the top. I happened to have three different types of honey, so we were trying them out and deciding what the differences were. The honey from alaska was the sweetest, the second came from a guy at wintercount with his own beehives. jacob decided that one would be good in tea. the third was from the local co-op and its desert wildflower honey which was my favorite because it wasn't too sweet but had lots of flavor. The dough will keep for a couple days if you make sure to store it in an air tight bag.