Mary Kim Titla’s
Fry Bread
“I’ve been told by fry bread makers that if you don’t make the dough with love, it won’t come out right.
I have always tried to incorporate love when making the dough.
It reminds me of the Bible verse
‘ 1 John 4:8 ‘God is love.’ .”
Mary Kim, her husband John Mosley, and her children have been part of the Crossroads family for over 20 years.
My mother taught me to make Fry Bread when I was about 9 years old. It took a lot of practice. With practice, the dough came out just right. I grew up on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, located about 100 miles east of Phoenix.
Fry Bread is not a traditional Native American food staple. Fry Bread was "invented" by Native Americans when they were placed on Indian reservations in the mid-1800s by the federal government and provided food rations such as flour, cooking oil, baking powder, salt, sugar, beans , cheese, and processed foods (canned meat, milk, etc.).
When Native Americans were moved from areas where they had grown and foraged their traditional foods, to areas that would not support their traditional foods, the ingredients for fry-bread were provided.
Critics see the dish as both colonization and a symbol of resilience
Fry bread is served today at Native American gatherings and at family gatherings.
Shown above is Mary Kim’s grandson, Mathew, carrying on the tradition of making fry bread. He is in the 6th grade.
Fry Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup very warm water (almost hot)
Directions for making fry bread:
1. Mix flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Gradually add in the water. Add only enough water to make dough stick together. Add flour as needed if it's too sticky.
3. Knead dough until smooth, make into fist-sized balls.
4. Cover them with a towel for 10 - 15 minutes then pat them out into circles about the size of a pancake.
5. Fry in hot cooking oil in a cast iron skillet until brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. It can be eaten alone or served with honey, powdered sugar, or jam.
6. The final ingredient is Love!