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Sourdough Barbari Bread
Persian barbari bread, also know as noon-e barbari and nān-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.
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Olive oil, feta, cucumber, mint and walnuts
I learned about this bread via the “Internet rabbit hole research method” whereby I read Eric Pallant’s guest blog post on the Perfect Loaf: The Breads of Morocco, and became intrigued by the flatbread m’lawi (meloui, m’semen, malawi). It has olive oil and semolina flour sprinkled into the layers of the bread. Searching for a m’lawi recipe brought me to the website The Mediterranean Dish, where I saw this tantalizing toasty-brown bread.
I was extra intrigued when I saw baking soda in the dough glaze of many barbari bread recipes. I’ve 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 — and it all makes me ponder how bread methods, ingredients, and actual sharing of bread tie us all together.
Here’s 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.
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.
Baking 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°F and expect your total bake time to be a bit shorter, around 14 minutes instead of 16 minutes.
See the Photo Gallery after the recipe for process pics.
Sourdough Barbari Bread
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.
Ingredients
Dough
Glaze
Topping
Instructions
Photo Gallery
Shopping List
Turkey Red Whole Grain Flour
Heirloom Turkey Red Wheat Berries
Khorasan Whole Grain Flour
Khorasan Wheat Berries
$12.70 – $87.00All Purpose Flour
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Sourdough Starter (Dry)
Extra Long Bench Knife by Lamson — Walnut Handle
Parchment Paper Sheets — 200 Sheets
$19.00USA Pan Half Sheet Pan
$23.00FibraMent Oven Baking Stones
Sourdough Barbari Bread