\n\t\t\tPersian barbari bread, also know as noon-e barbari and n\u0101n-e barbari, is a long oval flatbread from Iran with indentations in the form of parallel lines running the length of the bread. These lines make the bread easy to tear in different shapes and give more surface area for its distinctive crust treatment. In addition to optional sesame and nigella seeds, the crust is extra golden and crispy from a glaze of flour, water, and sometimes baking soda and sugar too. This gives the bread a deep brown Maillard reaction and a flavor deliciously reminiscent of pretzels. The bread is a bit thicker than naan and thinner than focaccia; and the method of dimpling the dough is similar to Turkish pide, though the pattern and crust glazes are different.
\n[Jump to recipe]
\nOlive oil, feta, cucumber, mint and walnuts
\nI learned about this bread via the \u201cInternet rabbit hole research method\u201d whereby I read Eric Pallant\u2019s guest blog post on the Perfect Loaf: The Breads of Morocco, and became intrigued by the flatbread m\u2019lawi (meloui, m\u2019semen, malawi). It has olive oil and semolina flour sprinkled into the layers of the bread. Searching for a m\u2019lawi recipe brought me to the website The Mediterranean Dish, where I saw this tantalizing toasty-brown bread.<\/p>\n
Barbari bread was named for the Hazara people of Afghanistan who migrated to the Khorasan region of Iran during the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925). The Hazara were called the Barbari by Iranians and their bread called n\u0101n-e barbari. Hazaras themselves refer to the bread as n\u0101n-e tan\u016bri (tandoor bread). For more history on this bread and the Persian Empire, see this Wikipedia article and National Geographic encyclopedia entry.<\/p>\n
I was extra intrigued when I saw baking soda in the dough glaze of many barbari bread recipes. I\u2019ve long contemplated spritzing my enriched doughs with a baking soda solution to make them bake up more golden brown. You can read about my quest for a more golden challah here: Sourdough Starter and Maillard Reaction in Enriched Doughs. This glaze reminds me of boiling of pretzel dough in baking soda water, a substitute for lye \u2014 and it all makes me ponder how bread methods, ingredients, and actual sharing of bread tie us all together.
\nHere\u2019s a short video highlighting the crunchy sounds of the crust and the soft chewy crumb. The barbari bread glaze also has flour in it, which makes the crust extra crispy.<\/p>\n
Flour Substitutions: Unlike most of the barbari bread recipes I found online, which use commercial yeast and white flour, this recipe attempts a dive into history with sourdough leavening and wheats originally from the region. I tested two batches with an 80:20 mix of all purpose flour and whole grain flour. The first bake used turkey red wheat, which was originally cultivated in Turkey before moving into the European bread basket, especially Ukraine. The second bake used khorasan wheat, which is originally from Khorasan, a region in northwest Iran. The khorasan dough was pale gold and a little dryer than the turkey red dough, which had more visible flecks of red bran. Both were tasty! Please note you can use other wheat varieties or even all white flour. If you use bread flour instead of all purpose flour, you can increase the water in the dough by 20-40 grams. The target dough consistency about 15 minutes after mixing is a bit wetter than pizza dough.
\nBaking Method: You can make this bread on a baking sheet or on a baking stone. If using a stone, plan for a longer preheat to get the stone up to 450\u00b0F and expect your total bake time to be a bit shorter, around 14 minutes instead of 16 minutes.
\nSee the Photo Gallery after the recipe for process pics.<\/p>\n
\t Barbari bread is a traditional Persian flatbread with an extra crispy crust from a special glaze as well as tasty sesame and nigella seeds. Try this version with the added flavors of sourdough fermentation and khorasan wheat or turkey red whole grain flours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Serving Size
\n 1\/4 of a bread<\/p>\n
Ingredients<\/p>\n
Dough <\/p>\n
Glaze <\/p>\n
4 Tbsp water (60 grams) <\/p>\n
2 Tbsp all purpose flour (15 grams) <\/p>\n
1 tsp baking soda (6 grams) <\/p>\n
1 tsp sugar (4 grams) <\/p>\n
Topping <\/p>\n
2 Tbsp nigella seeds <\/p>\n
2 Tbsp sesame seeds<\/p>\n
Instructions <\/p>\n
\t\t Mix the dough ingredients in a large bowl and cover. The dough should not be shaggy-wet but doesn’t have to be dry enough to knead by hand. If using a straight-walled container, mark the level of the dough to track expansion. <\/p>\n
\t\t Let the dough rest 15 minutes, then do a round of stretching and folding. After another rest of 20-30 minutes, do a second round of stretching and folding of the dough. <\/p>\n
\t\t Cover and let the dough rise until it has expanded by 60-80%. My dough rose for about 4 hours in a 75\u00b0F kitchen. If you want a longer rise, either keep the dough colder or use less sourdough starter. For example, my second batch had only 70 grams starter and needed 6 hours to rise the same amount. <\/p>\n
\t\t Divide the dough in two pieces on a lightly floured work surface and pre-shape the two pieces into balls or ovals. Cover and rest the dough for about 20 minutes. <\/p>\n
\t\t Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper. <\/p>\n
\t\t Stretch and flatten the dough into two long ovals a little less than 1″ thick. If the dough feels loose or uneven, do an envelope fold on the long side, then press it wider again. Otherwise, simply press the dough into a long oval shape. Transfer to the parchment paper. <\/p>\n
\t\t With damp fingertips, press lines the length of the dough. Don’t cut all the way through the dough. <\/p>\n
\t\t Cover the dough either with oiled plastic wrap, a damp cloth, or by putting the baking sheet inside a large plastic bag–I use two tall glasses on either end of the baking sheet to tent the plastic bag away from the dough. <\/p>\n
\t\t Let the dough proof 60-90 minutes depending on the ambient temperature. Both batches of dough rose again for about 80 minutes in a 75\u00b0F kitchen. <\/p>\n
\t\t About 20 minutes before the end of the final proof, begin preheating your oven to 450\u00b0F and mix up the dough glaze. <\/p>\n
\t\t Brush the dough with the glaze, then re-dimple the lines in the dough. Sprinkle on the optional seeds. <\/p>\n
\t\t Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the bread has the color you desire. <\/p>\n
\t\t Enjoy the same day for optimal crispiness of the crust, or re-toast on subsequent days. <\/p>\n
Photo Gallery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Persian barbari bread, also know as noon-e barbari and n\u0101n-e barbari, is a long oval flatbread from Iran with indentations in the form of parallel lines running the length of the bread. These lines make the bread easy to tear in different shapes and give more surface area for its distinctive crust treatment. In addition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-food"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanabaking.snipsglow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}