Being of "Native American" decent (as well as a bunch of other things) particularly Mvskoke Creek & Cherokee.. I love me some fry bread and some Indian Taco's.
Go ahead.. call us "Indian's" if you will.. most of us don't care.
With that being said.. I like to consider myself a Fry Bread Babe cause I am round, brown and yummy!
There is history behind fry bread and I think after you know the history of it, you learn to appreciate it more. It comes with a story of great pain and suffering of Native people.
Theres really no easy way to put it but, as most people know during the 1800's Indians were slaughtered, their lands stolen, women were raped, children were taken and were treated as animals.
Natives were removed from their home territories and placed in camps that were over crowded and supplies were meager.
The government rationed supplies of lard, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder or yeast and powered milk were usually rancid.
Fry bread came from these few ingredients to keep the people alive during their captivity. To some Fry Bread is a sacred tradition and it is said that it is to be consumed by the people until the earth has again become purified.
If you Google search for "Fry Bread Recipe" you will only find a bazillion different versions and some will just leave you scratching your head.... think about it - if you are looking for something more on the "authentic" side go for the recipes with the least ingredients.
But, anyhoo here's the recipe I use:
Fry Bread:
1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying
Extra flour to flour your hands and for your surface.
Sift together the flour, 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 well. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. 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. Don’t worry about it being round.
In a deep heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. You can check if you oil is hot enough 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 skillet or other large heavy pot. 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 lightly browned, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take approximately 3 to 4 minutes to cook. Place the cooked Fry Bread on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Now for your Indian Taco filling & topping.
Everybody is different on what they like to use for their filling and toppings. I myself like to keep it easy and simple. Remember the old saying.. K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid!)
Brown 1-2 pounds of hamburger (depending on how many people you are feeding), drain and add 2 cans of chilli with beans per 1 pound of hamburger as well as 1 pkg of taco seasoning per 1 pounds of hamburger. Now don't go getting some nasty canned chilli like that Wolf brand that my Dad used to buy.. I wouldn't feed that stuff to dogs! Get some Hormel or even Walmart brand is better then Wolf. Or, if you are like me you might have some leftover homemade chilli in your freezer so, use that!
So, that takes care of your filling.. now for the toppings!
Everybody has their own preferences on toppings...just think whatever you like on regular tacos is good on Indian Tacos. I for one like the whole sha-bang!
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Jalapenos
- Taco Sauce, Picante Sauce or Salsa
- Onions
- Cheese
- Sour Cream
