Lida: Perhaps the most famous and widely used bread in Iran, Barbari is a part of Iranian culture. A piece of Barbari with some feta cheese and a cup of tea form the traditional breakfast in Iran. The secret behind the golden color of Barbari and its unique smell is in the small amount of baking soda mixed with some water and used to brush Barbari before baking. This mix is called Romal in Iran which is specified as the sauce here.
Main Ingredients:
Bread Flour: 3+1/4 cups
Water: 1.5 cups
Active Dry Yeast: package or 2+1/4 tsp
Baking Powder: 1 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp
Cornmeal: or whole wheat flour
Poppy Seeds: or Sesame Seeds or Black Sesame Seeds (optional)
Sauce Ingredients:
Flour: 1 tsp
Baking Soda: 1 tsp
Water: 2/3 cups
Directions:
1. If using bread machine, add all main ingredients in the order suggested by your bread machine manual and process to form the dough then skip to step 6. Otherwise start from step 2.
2. Dissolve yeast in 100 ml warm water and let it stand for 3 min.
3. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.
4. Pour the yeast mixture and the rest of the water into the center of the flour and mix to dough.
5. Knead for 15 min or until dough becomes smooth and elastic.
6. Divide dough into 2 round pieces. Slightly sprinkle the baking sheet with cornmeal or whole wheat flour and transfer rolls to it. Cover and leave them in a warm place for 1.5 hours or until doubled in bulk.
7. Meanwhile mix all sauce ingredients and bring to boil. Let it cool down before using it.
8. Brush doughs with the sauce.
9. Dip your fingers in the sauce and punch down the doughs in the way shown in the right hand side pictures.
10. Brush doughs with the sauce one more time and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Let them stand for 45 min.
11. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 F.
12. Pull the doughs with your hand as shown in the picture.
13. Bake them for 30 min or till golden.
Published on December 25, 2007 Last edited on July 14, 2009
Aaaah, I'm so glad you put this recipe up! I enjoyed barbari bread so much when I was visiting Iran. It's delicious for breakfast spread with a soft cheese and honey.
Daveed, Guest
2009 Jan 10
Hi Lida,Thanks for the recipe. I tried it and got a good bread. It looked like a real Barbari. Can you also include Sangak as well?
Bread flour is a high-gluten flour. This is perfect for baking bread since the end result will be chewier with more holes in it. You can certainly replace it with all purpose white flour but the end result may not be as glorious as you had hoped.
Can you give directions for commercial production of 500 breads or more?
WE, Guest
2009 May 11
I need some help/guidance: Where can I find a barbari bread machine? or What kind of molds are used to make the barbari bread? a lot people say they are all hand made but then many are mass produced at certain companies/stores. What is their process?
As far as I know, this kind of barbari is still made by hand in Iran. The mass produced barbari just doesn't have the same taste nor texture.
Mohan, Guest from: Edmonton, Canada
2009 Jun 01
Ts it posible to make this bread on BBQ or electric grill? Thanks
Adry, Guest from: Tx
2009 Jul 01
Im from Argentina my husband from Iran I love to bake breads, w him I learned about persian food. Jezz he loves it. Now I know about barbari bread Thanks a lot:)
Pedram, Guest from: Vancouver
2009 Jul 14
the tsp used in this recepie, does it mean tea spoon or table spoon ?thanks
Hi LidaThank you for the nice recepi.I have a poblem.I made the bread .it looks lovely but the dough inside is very compact,it looks like slice bread dough while i remember barbare dough was very light as there was no dough inside.What did i do wrong?any suggestion?Thank you againVick
Anita, Guest
2009 Sep 12
This recipe sounds great, but my first try was a failure:( How much cornmeal does this recipe require? No amount is mentioned above. Any Sangak or Taftoon bread recipe?
Al Davitian, Guest from: California, USA
2009 Sep 15
Cups come in different shape and sizes. Wouldn’t it be better to use a measuring cup and use exact amounts? For this recipe one cup is equal how many milliliters?
For Al Davitian: Cup means US Cup which is about 240 ml. For Anita about cornmeal: it should be enough to fill the surface of your baking sheet.
Alireza, Guest
2009 Oct 01
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. The first time I visited this site and saw the nice picture of the Barbari, I found myself overtaken by a flood of memories of the last time I had perceived the scent of a true Barbari bread. I was still in trance caused through onslaught of picture of the bread, when I hit the word souce which immediately arose the horrible smell of the burned souce of my neighibor in my mempry. My senses were then not shocked? --- So please use some words like Soda Mix.
Monique, Guest from: Holland
2009 Oct 07
Super! For once, within an hour I had a bread just like the photo!.. and it was gorgeous too, it was gone in one mealtime! My husband found it super as well!The sauce treats the crust so its golden/brown and gives it a special taste! A winner!
Nina, Guest
2009 Oct 29
I love barbari bread, I tried this recipe but I was not successful. I had problem with the dough, it was so sticky and running. I couldn't even knead the dough, it was running on the bench!!!! What did I do wrong? I followed the recipe as directed, everything was exactly the same! my ingredients, my measurements,...so what was the problem?could you please help me?Thank you.
Nina, a couple of things might have happened. If you use old flour that has absorbed water or if you don't use standard measuring cups, you may end up with runny or dry dough. If it's too runny, add 1 tbsp of flour at a time and knead until dough is smooth.
Amir HZ, Guest
2009 Oct 31
I am a Turk, and I love it. the best kind of bread u can find in world. thanks for this recipe.
