Barbari A Persian Bread Recipes

BARBARI (A PERSIAN BREAD)

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast with the sugar in 1/2 c water, let sit a few minutes to proof (foam).
• Mix bread flour, baking powder and salt together. Make a well in the flour, and slowly incorporate the yeast mixture, and then the remaining 1 cup of water.
• Knead 15 minutes on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic.
• Divide dough into 2 round pieces.
• Sprinkle a large baking sheet with cornmeal, transfer the dough to it. Lightly cover and place in a warm place until doubled in bulk (~1.5 hours).
• Meanwhile, bring the glaze ingredients to a boil, let cool. Brush lightly over the dough.
• Now for the tricky part! Dip your fingers into the glaze, and punch the dough down with the edges of your hands to form several long parallel ridges along the dough.
• Brush the dough with the glaze again, sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Carefully stretch the dough lengthwise (it should be approximately 8 inches wide and 18 long-- I never measured it!) until it is about 1/4-1/2" thick.
• Bake 25-30 minutes, or until golden. The bread should be slightly flexible when done. If you overcook it (as I did in my first attempt- by 8 minutes), it will turn out more like ciabatta-- still good!
• Good luck!

PERSIAN BARBARI BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• Mix the yeast with the one third of the water and sugar and stir it, then leave it to rest for a while. The yeast will prepare itself and puff. When it was ready, add the water, melted butter, salt and oil to the yeast and let it rest a little bit more. Now you have a liquid dough and you cannot make bread with it. You need to make it seem and act like a real paste, which is possible by adding flour and the wholegrain of wheat to it gradually. Knead the paste gradually and firmly. Do it until the dough is not sticky any longer. Add the remaining cup of the flour very slowly to the paste in order not to have a very hard dough. When you see it does not stick to the hands, put the flour aside. Wrap it up with plastic or freezer bags and let it rest for an hour or so to have it all ready.
• While the dough is resting, go for the covering material of the bread. Mix the flour (2 tbsp) with the water and put it on the flame and let it become condensed.
• Pick the dough and spread it on the tray covered by the flour on the surface. When you spread the dough just like the bread in the picture, cover the surface of the dough with the condensed liquid you made on the flame and sprinkle as much sesame as you wanton it. Place the tray in the oven that you have preheated and let it bake for35 minutes with the heat of 350 F or 10 minutes with the heat of 500 F.

BARBARI

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup (100 ml) of warm water and set aside for 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer, mix the flour and the baking powder.
• Make a well and add the dissolved yeast. Mix everything by incorporating the water gradually. Then, add the salt.
• Knead the dough for 10 minutes, until it is homogenous and somewhat elastic.
• Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Place the pieces on a well-floured plate, cover and let rise in a warm place, away from drafts, for 90 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan, mix all the ingredients for the romal then bring them to a boil and set aside to cool to a temperature of about 75 F (25˚C).
• On a well-floured work surface, flatten the dough pieces by dipping your hands in the romal so that the dough does not stick.
• Flatten the dough in order to obtain an oval shape and a thickness of about ¼ inch (0,5 cm).
• With the tip of your fingers (except the thumb) or using a long knife, make scratches on the surface of the loaves. Brush them generously with the romal then sprinkle them with sesame seeds.
• Let rise for another 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F (190˚C), then bake the bread for 30 minutes or until golden brown.