Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fry Bread I
Serves 6Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
Use a pastry blender (or two butter knives) to cut the shortening into the flour.
Add the hot water, and mix until the water is incorporated and you get a dough.
Turn out the dough on a lightly floured board. Knead the dough until it is soft and smooth.
Wrap the dough in plastic, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Shape and cook
Divide the dough into 6 pieces, roll each into a ball, and roll each into a flat disk with a rolling pin.
Brush one side of each disk with melted margarine and place on a barbecue over a 3 Mississippi fire.
Brush the opposing side of the bread with margarine and flip the bread on the barbecue.
Cook until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough as its proteins and starches set during cooking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that makes the frybread rise and lighten.
- Shortening
- Coats flour particles to tenderize the dough and add flakiness.
- Hot water
- Hydrates the flour to form a dough and keeps it soft and pliable.
- Margarine (in the method)
- Adds fat that helps the surface brown and gives a rich flavor.
The step that matters
Resting the dough. Resting lets the gluten relax so the dough rolls out easily without springing back. Skipping the rest makes the disks tough and hard to shape.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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