Nan-e Barbari (Persian Flatbread)

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NAN-E BARBARI

I know - I've been going a bit bread and baking crazy on here.  But THIS!  Nan-e barbari, more commonly known as Persian flatbread, is a very thick flatbread that is popular in Iran.  It is similar to Indian naan in shape and cooking technique, but is pretty unique and spectacular with it's grooves and coating of nigella and sesame seeds.  I call it "statement bread".

Nan-e barbari requires 2 rises but literally cooks within 20 minutes on a well heated stone in the oven.  There is also a paste that the bread is coated with called a roomal that gives the bread its crispy texture and golden brown color.  This flatbread is most commonly eaten as a breakfast bread, served with a type of feta cheese, clotted cream or jam, but I love it fresh out of the oven with dinner - to scoop up a curry or stew or hug some grilled kebabs.

I use a preheated pizza stone to bake this, but you can also use a cookie sheet.  Just know that you might not get as nice a crunch on the bottom of the flatbread.

Enjoy!

For the Dough:
1 packet active dry yeast
1 ¾ cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons sugar
3 ¾ - 4 cups bread flour (plus more for coating pizza peel)
2 1/2 teaspoons salt

For the Paste (Roomal):
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup water
pinch of sugar

Garnish: nigella seeds and/or white sesame seeds

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the yeast, water and sugar and let stand for 10 minutes until it begins to foam.  If it doesn’t begin to foam at this point, your yeast may be bad and the dough may not rise properly.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the bread flour and salt until a shaggy dough forms.  Put the mixer on medium and let knead until a soft, smooth dough has formed (5 to 7 minutes).  You may get a little sticking to the bottom - that’s ok!  Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, form in to a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl to rise in a warm area, covered, for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Once the dough has risen, punch the dough down and separate into two equal pieces. Shape each dough into a long oval.  Place each oval on a parchment lined cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap to allow to rise for another 30 - 45 minutes.  

While the dough is on its second rise, preheat the oven to 450° F and allow the pizza stone to heat for 30 minutes or more on the bottom shelf. 

You can also start making the roomal. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine all of the roomal ingredients and bring to a light boil.  Reduce heat to low and cook until the paste coats the back of your spoon and has deepened in color.  Remove from heat and set aside.

If you have a pizza peel/paddle, lightly coat with flour and place one of the pieces of dough on it (you can also use the back of a cookie sheet or a cookie sheet that has no raised sides). Make sure the dough can easily slide off so you have no issues when transferring it to the hot pizza stone.  Press down on the dough and release some of the air.  Using the side of your pinky finger, gently press down the length of the dough to make the grooves, trying not to go all the way through the dough.  Do this about 4-5 times. You can also go back over the grooves with your fingers if you want a deeper indent - up to you!  Brush the dough all over with the roomal and sprinkle with the nigella seeds and/or sesame seeds.  

Gently slide the bread on to the preheated pizza stone and cook in the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown.  While the first piece of dough is cooking, prepare the other half.  
Barbari is best served warm, or at room temp. 

Nankhatai (South Asian-ish Shortbread Biscuits)

NANKHATAI (SOUTH ASIAN-ISH SHORTBREAD BISCUITS)

I know, I say South Asian-ish here!  I grew up eating these beautiful, cardamom-flecked shortbread biscuits, and I mainly ate them with the East African half of my family (go figure!).  The whole time I thought these were South Asian, but when I went to research a bit more about them, I found out differently.  The name for these cookies, nankhatai, is actually derived from Persian "naan", meaning bread, and Afghani "kulcha-e-khataye", meaning biscuit.

I love that!  So many foods commingle and cross culture, and I'm happy these did.  They remind me of childhood days, nibbling at the dinner table with my extended family chatting away in no less than three different languages (unfortunately, I only understood English).

After many, many tries, I got these right.  They are buttery, crumbly, more biscuit than cookie and have what my mom calls this "warming" sensation when you eat them (which I call loads of butter...).  Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 1 dozen cookies (about 2” diameter)

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

2 tablespoons plain yogurt

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

¾ cup semolina flour

¾ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

Crushed pistachios, for garnish

Preheat the oven for 375° F.

Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.  Add in the yogurt.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, cardamom, salt and baking soda.  With the stand mixer running, add the flour mixture in 3 increments, scraping down between each.  Stop when all of the flour is added.

The mixture is very crumbly, so you have to work it a bit to form the cookies.  I like to use an ice cream scoop or spoon to get even amounts, and, rather than roll them between my palms, I pat them into round, semi-flat shapes.

Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and mark each with an X using a knife.  Bake for 20 minutes, and let the cookies cool before removing.  Garnish with crushed pistachios.

Yemen Honeycomb Bread (Khaliat Nahal)

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YEMEN HONEYCOMB BREAD (KHALIAT NAHAL)

For the last few months, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the political climate and a tenor of hate that's been seeping into conversations, news, social media, everywhere.  It feels like the floodgates have opened, and bigotry has been given a safe space to be expressed. 

A bit heavy, I know, but I can't deny how I've been feeling.

Though for sure, everyone is welcome at my table (it's my go to hashtag :) and that's plain to see in all of the recipes and stories I have here on my blog, as of late, I’ve been cooking food from the (now) 6 banned Muslim countries.  Some dishes are as familiar as an old friend; others are a tentative handshake with someone new.  From Irani Javaher Polow, a jeweled rice which comingles in my memory with Pakistani rice dishes from my childhood, to Yemeni Khaliat Nahal, honeycomb bread rolls filled with cheese and glazed with a sweet, orange blossom-scented syrup (recipe here!), each dish is a bit of resistance.  I’m doing it in part to raise awareness, but it's truly my way through: my personal means of processing this concerted exclusion. Of my parents.  Of me.  Of my daughter. Of so many others.

Ingredients

Yields 32 rolls

For the bread:

¼ cup lukewarm water

1 (¾) ounce packet yeast (active dry or instant)

¾ cup milk

7 tablespoons butter, softened, divided

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 egg, beaten

3 ¾ to 4 cups all purpose flour

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, cut into 32 squares

1 tablespoon black and white sesame seeds, for garnish

For the glaze:

1/3 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon orange blossom water

For the rolls: I make this recipe in a stand mixer, but you can easily do this by hand.  Start with the lukewarm water in the bowl of the stand mixer and sprinkle the packet of yeast over.  Mix gently to combine and let sit 5 minutes or so while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a medium pot, bring the milk up to a simmer and add 5 tablespoons of the butter, the sugar and salt.  Simmer for a minute, just until the butter melts and remove from the heat.  This should not be scalding, so let it cool for a bit before adding to the mixture.

Add the egg and 3 ¾ cups of flour to the yeast mixture and mix together with a fork.  Slowly pour in the milk mixture, using the fork to make a shaggy dough.  Using the dough hook attachment (or your hands), knead for about 3-4 minutes.  The dough should be soft and a bit tacky but should NOT stick to your hands.  If it's sticky, keep adding flour in tablespoon increments until you have a non-sticky consistency.  When you pull up the dough hook, the dough should slide right off.

Grease a 12 inch pie pan or cast iron skillet.  Divide the dough into 32 even-sized pieces. Flatten each piece and place a cream cheese square in the middle.  Form in to ball and place in the greased pan.  Once all the balls have been rolled,  cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 375˚ F.

After the rise, brush the rolls generously with the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

For the glaze: Add the water and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-heat (until the sugar has dissolved).  Remove from the heat and whisk in the honey and orange blossom water.  Let cool while the rolls are baking.

Once the rolls are done, pour the glaze over the rolls while they are hot.  Enjoy!