We'll admit it. Gastronomy in Arizona can be confusing, from distinguishing between chile peppers to learning how to pronounce chilaquiles. In the "Arizona Food Defined" series, we fulfill your culinary curiosity about the Grand Canyon State.
Is American Indian fry bread the same thing as funnel cake? Nope, not at all. They might use similar ingredients—but, then again, so do cookies and cake.
Let's put it this way: If you have the ingredients to make funnel cake, then you have the ingredients for fry bread. Fry bread—also known as Indian fry bread or Navajo tacos—is made from flour, salt, baking powder and warm water. Plus shortening, in which to fry the dough. These staples were all American Indian tribes had access to when fry bread was first created (more on that later). Funnel cakes utilize those same basics but also include eggs, milk and sugar.
Beyond this, the tastes, textures and origins of the two foods differ greatly.
The origin of fry bread in Arizona
Indian fry bread was invented out of necessity. More than 150 years ago, the United States government forced thousands of Navajo Indians from their homelands in what is now Arizona, making them walk 300 miles (known as the "Long Walk") to the New Mexico Territory—and to a land where they had no access to the foods that comprised their diet.
To prevent the Navajo from starving, the government provided rations such as canned goods, as well as flour, water, salt and lard—which became the simple makings of fry bread. After four years of terrible living conditions, the U.S.-Navajo Treaty of 1868 was signed, allowing the Navajo to make the journey back to a smaller portion of their original homeland.
To this day, many Navajo regard fry bread as a symbol—albeit, a complicated one—of perseverance, pain, adaptability and survival. It's also a powerful link between the generations.
Funnel cake's origin story started in medieval Persian cultures. Their popular dough-centered dishes spread throughout Europe before Pennsylvania Dutch and German immigrants brought a version that resembles modern-day funnel cake to North America.
How to eat fry bread
First, let's look at how fry bread is made. A round ball of dough is rolled back and forth and flattened into a pancake of sorts. A hole is sometimes made in the center of the dough with a thumb or finger, then it's laid carefully in a skillet heated with oil. When the dough puffs up, it's turned over once, then removed from the skillet.
Fry bread is either eaten plain or layered with toppings that range from honey and sugar to beef and beans.
While funnel cake is traditionally served plain with powdered sugar, fry bread enjoys dual roles as a sweet confectionary or a savory taco crowned with ground beef, beans, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce and cheddar cheese.
Fry bread is bubbly and chewy—sort of like pizza dough or puffy pita bread—while funnel cake is bumpy and takes on a layered shape, like a bundle of yarn.
Both funnel cake and Indian fry bread make appearances at state fairs and carnivals. But for fry bread, there are signs of a shift at Arizona restaurants with menu items that do justice to the food's cultural significance. Look for fry bread served alongside chipotle peppers, tepary beans, nopales and corn—heritage ingredients that speak to Arizona's agricultural history.
Where to eat fry bread in Arizona
These restaurants' takes on this cultural dish have won awards, rave reviews and cult followings.
Café Santa Rosa, Tucson
Try the Indian Burger: two hamburger patties, roasted green chiles, cheddar, shredded lettuce, tomato and onion, all stuffed into a folded fry bread "bun."
Cameron Trading Post and Restaurant, Cameron
A staple on the menu since the 1930s, the Navajo taco is smothered in a spicy base of ground beef and chili beans and topped with chopped green chiles, shredded lettuce, tomato and cheese.
Courtyard Café at the Heard Museum, Phoenix
Get a taste of heritage ingredients when you order fry bread with creamy tepary-bean hummus. For dessert, try warm fry bread and ice cream.
Fry Bread House, Phoenix
You can go sweet (fry bread covered in butter and cinnamon) or savory (topped with a hearty helping of chorizo and beans). Owned and operated by members of the Tohono O'odham Nation, the Fry Bread House earned an America's Classics Award from the James Beard Foundation in 2012.
FAQs
Fry bread—also known as Indian fry bread or Navajo tacos—is made from flour, salt, baking powder and warm water. Plus shortening, in which to fry the dough. These staples were all American Indian tribes had access to when fry bread was first created (more on that later).
Why do navajos eat fry bread? ›
Fry bread is considered Indian country's “soul food,” because — just like barbecue ribs, which were borne during the evil enslavement and persecution of Africans in the U.S. — fry bread never had its place in Indian country until white, government officials forced Navajos and other nations and tribes into prison camps ...
What is the Navajo word for fry bread? ›
Dah diníilghaazh means Fry Bread or the process of making Fry Bread. In order to prevent the indigenous population from starving, the government gave them white flour, processed sugar and lard – the beginning of the makings of Navajo Fry Bread.
Is fry bread and fried dough the same thing? ›
Fried dough is also known as fry dough, fry bread (bannock), fried bread, doughboys, elephant ears, beaver tails, scones, pizza fritte, frying saucers, and buñuelos (in the case of smaller pieces).
Is fry bread healthy? ›
Health Problems
Fry bread can be eaten alone or as part of a meal, or can be dessert topped with butter, cinnamon and sugar or perhaps honey. Fry bread is tempting to most people because of the grease/lard/shortening ingredient and therein lies the problem. Not only is fry bread high in fat, it is also caloric.
What is fry bread made of? ›
A typical frybread recipe consists of flour, water, salt, a small amount of oil or lard, and sometimes baking powder or more rarely yeast. The ingredients are mixed and worked into a simple dough, and covered with a cloth for 30 minutes to an hour, until the dough rises.
What do Navajo eat what is a typical meal? ›
Traditionally, the Navajo farmed vegetables, including beans, squash, and corn, which grew in many colors and was eaten dried (and ground) or fresh. The Navajo hunted deer and other small mammals for protein. Today sheep are raised in the territory for wool, and mutton is one of the tribe's most popular food sources.
Who eats fry bread? ›
Fry bread, associated with American Indian cuisine along with its relative, "the Indian taco," emerged in the twentieth century as a favored treat at Oklahoma fairs, powwows, festivals, and restaurants.
What was the reason Navajos avoided eating fish? ›
Traditional Navajo People belief that fish are closely related to reptiles and they should not be eaten. It is said that expectant parents should not fish or eat fish.
Do native Alaskans eat fry bread? ›
Let's talk about frybread. It can be found at almost every gathering, celebration, and Indian “doing”, but certainly at every powwow.
to eat
- Ashą́ (I eat)
- Íyą́ (You eat)
- Ayą́ (He eats)
- Iidą́ (We two eat)
- Ohsą́ (You two eat)
- Ayą́ (They two eat)
- Da'iidą́ (We three, or more, eat)
- Da'ohsą́ (You three, or more, eat)
The Navajo people call themselves Dine', literally meaning "The People." The Dine' speak about their arrival on the earth as a part of their story on the creation. The Navajo are believed to have learned the rudiments of agriculture after arriving in the Four Corners area.
What do Native Americans eat with fry bread? ›
Dust the fry bread with powdered sugar and add a drizzle of honey or syrup. Serve the bread as a taco salad base or with taco toppings (popularly called Navajo tacos).
Why is my fry bread hard? ›
If you knead or mix the dough to much it could cause the fry bread to be to tough.
Why does fried bread taste so good? ›
Unlike the dry toast you can make in a toaster (or under the broiler in your oven), slices fried in oil are rich and luxurious; that bit of extra fat goes a long way in the flavor department.
What is fried bread also known as? ›
Well, seriously speaking, a poori is a flaky, puffy, golden deep fried bread. The word poori actually means complete. They are an accompaniment to a festive meal, or also served in the mornings with a lighter vegetable. My go to as a breakfast dish is this light potato and cauliflower medley.
Can you eat fried bread? ›
However, fried bread is still eaten, particularly in the form of French toast, but sometimes as simply a slice of bread fried in butter.
Is fry bread the same as a scone? ›
This treat has many names, but in North America it's mostly known as fry bread, or frybread. Unless you're from Utah like me, and then you likely call this a scone. But regardless of the name you're familiar with, they're all pretty much the same— a simple dough rolled or stretched flat and deep-fried till golden.
What food is native to Arizona? ›
Still today our backyards are filled with these local foods — mesquite, acorn, barrel cactus, chiltepin, cholla, desert chia, desert ironwood, hackberry, palo verde, prickly pear, saguaro, wolfberry, wild greens and more.
