How to make Traditional Navajo Fry bread

Making Traditional Navajo style fry bread (at the end) and naaniskaadi. Perfect for Navajo Tacos :) The Flat Bread, or Naniskadi is great for breakfast burritos or to eat with steak.

The most important thing on the dough is getting the right consistency, which could be the difference between just a few extra drops of water ( I sometimes see my mom add just a pinch of flour at a time, or a few drops of water)...so it takes practice to know when its ready to form into bread. The dough she makes isn't sticky, it's Zuni clan style (Naniisht'ezhi Tachini) THE best, imo :-)

-The oil needs to be deep, allowing the dough to float and not touch the bottom of the pan.
-The oil needs to cook it in just a few seconds, so it has to be HOT! (In some videos I've seen, the bread sits there in the oil for a minute or more, letting all the oil soak in...not good! and way too greasy. If it takes that long to cook, the dough is too thick and/or the oil isn't hot enough.)
-Put a hole in the center of the bread before you put it in so it doesn't dome and cook unevenly. If needed, poke a hole in the large bubbles as they form.
-The dough needs to be very thin; notice that you can almost see through it before they put it in the oil.

**** Best Recipe **** (Fry bread)
4 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp Baking powder (too much and it will ruin the taste!)
1 3/4 cup WARM water
2 Tbsp milk
Mix dry ingredients. Gradually and SLOWLY Add water and mix by hand until it forms a ball of dough without clumps. Don't over-mix. Let stand for 1/2 hr. Fry away :) Makes about 10-15.

For flat bread (Tortillas or Naaniskaadi) simply ADD 1 Tbsp of oil or shortening to the above recipe and REMOVE the milk from the recipe.

(This was filmed about 20 miles southeast of Gallup, NM, on the Navajo reservation)
Historically, sheep fat was used. After a butcher, it could be dried and saved in a burlap sack for months. Crisco shortening is often used too.
fyi, We don't eat this ALL the time! Maybe once a month if that for a special occasion. This happened to be a family reunion.