Barbari bread, or Nan-e-Barbari as it’s known in Farsi, is a classic style of leavened Persian flatbread made through Iran. It is mostly known for having a crispy golden exterior dusted with flavorful seeds like sesame and poppy. Which is perfectly complemented by a light and airy interior that in many ways resembles focaccia bread.
But probably my favorite aspect of barbari bread is just how easy it is to make at home. The dough itself consists of five simple ingredients and is incredibly forgiving for beginners who have little experience with baking. And while there are a few steps that are unique to making barbari bread like the glaze(roomal), none of them are complicated.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Barbari bread is often topped with some combination of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and or nigella seeds. That being said feel free to get creative and top your bread with any type of seeds that you want like flax, sunflower, or even caraway.
- As always if you don’t have a stand mixer you can still make this dough by kneading it by hand. Just mix the ingredients in a bowl until the dough forms, then kneed it on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes.
- Typically barbari bread is served for breakfast with cheese, nuts, and even fresh fruits. But it can also be served as a side dish with things like joojeh kebabs, saffron rice, and shirazi salad for a whole meal.
Barbari Bread Recipe
Prep time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2 loaves of bread
Ingredients
For the dough:
2¼ Teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 Teaspoon of granulated sugar
1½ Cups of warm water
4 Cups of all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1½ Teaspoons of salt
For the glaze (Roomal):
½ Cup of water
1 Teaspoon of flour
¼ Teaspoon of baking soda
Topping:
sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or nigella (black onion) seeds
Instructions
- Proof your yeast: Heat up the water until it is between 115 & 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the warm water to a bowl along with the yeast and sugar, and stir to combine. Let this sit for 10 minutes. You will know that the yeast is good when tiny bubbles start to form on the surface and the mixture gives off a yeasty aroma.
If it doesn’t then the yeast is no good and you will need to repeat the process with fresher yeast.
- Make the dough: Place the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and put on the dough hook attachment. Set the stand mixer to low speed and slowly pour in the yeast and water mixture. Once these ingredients combine and form a dough turn the speed up to medium and kneed for 2 minutes.
The finished dough should be slightly sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl that has been lightly greased.
Cover the bowl with a clean towel, and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size.
This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Make the glaze (Roomal): Add all of the ingredients for the glaze into a small saucepan and stir to combine. Place this over medium heat and let it come to a simmer. Keep stirring the glaze and let it simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the glaze cool until used later.
- Divide and shape the dough: Transfer the risen dough to a lightly floured work surface. Gently deflate the dough and divide it into two even pieces. Transfer each piece onto individual parchment paper lined baking sheets, and shape them into rectangles/ovals that are roughly 14” x 6” in size. Then use your fingers to make several rows of deep indentations lengthwise along each piece of dough.
Make sure that you press down firmly when making these indentations, but not hard enough that you tear through the dough.
- Brush the glaze over the top of each piece of dough and follow up by sprinkling on the mixture of sesame, poppy, or nigella seeds.
- Cover each piece of dough with a clean towel and let them rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, or 232 Celcius.
- Bake the barbari bread: Uncover the baking sheets/bread and place them in your hot oven. Let the bread bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until it has become golden brown in color. Transfer the baked bread to cooling racks and let them rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Enjoy!
Barbari Bread Recipe
Servings: 2 loafs of bread
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2¼ Teaspoons of active dry yeast
- 1 Teaspoon of granulated sugar
- 1½ Cups of warm water
- 4 Cups of all purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1½ Teaspoons of salt
For the glaze (Roomal):
- ½ Cup of water
- 1 Teaspoon of flour
- ¼ Teaspoon of baking soda
Topping:
- sesame seeds poppy seeds, or nigella (black onion) seeds
Instructions
- Proof your yeast: Heat up the water until it is between 115 & 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the warm water to a bowl along with the yeast and sugar, and stir to combine. Let this sit for 10 minutes. You will know that the yeast is good when tiny bubbles start to form on the surface and the mixture gives off a yeasty aroma. If it doesn’t then the yeast is no good and you will need to repeat the process with fresher yeast.
- Make the dough: Place the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and put on the dough hook attachment. Set the stand mixer to low speed and slowly pour in the yeast and water mixture. Once these ingredients combine and form a dough turn the speed up to medium and kneed for 2 minutes. The finished dough should be slightly sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl that has been lightly greased. Cover the bowl with a clean towel, and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Make the glaze (Roomal): Add all of the ingredients for the glaze into a small saucepan and stir to combine. Place this over medium heat and let it come to a simmer. Keep stirring the glaze and let it simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the glaze cool until used later.
- Divide and shape the dough: Transfer the risen dough to a lightly floured work surface. Gently deflate the dough and divide it into two even pieces. Transfer each piece onto individual parchment paper lined baking sheets, and shape them into rectangles/ovals that are roughly 14” x 6” in size. Then use your fingers to make several rows of deep indentations lengthwise along each piece of dough. Make sure that you press down firmly when making these indentations, but not hard enough that you tear through the dough.
- Brush the glaze over the top of each piece of dough and follow up by sprinkling on the mixture of sesame, poppy, or nigella seeds.
- Cover each piece of dough with a clean towel and let them rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, or 232 Celcius.
- Bake the barbari bread: Uncover the baking sheets/bread and place them in your hot oven. Let the bread bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until it has become golden brown in color. Transfer the baked bread to cooling racks and let them rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Enjoy!
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