Parāoa Parai: Gluten Free Fry Bread with Salted Caramel Sauce

Time 90 min

Serves 20 pieces

Difficulty

Matariki is a special occasion in the New Zealand calendar which marks the start of the Māori New Year. Signified by the Matariki cluster of stars reappearing in our night sky, this is a time to reflect on the past year, celebrate the present, and plan for the year ahead.

What better way to celebrate than sharing kai with your whanau and friends- and have we got the recipe for you!

This take on a traditional Parāoa Parai (Fry Bread) is gluten free! It is warming, crunchy and delicious, and will certainly bring comfort when you are out in the cold stargazing for the Matariki cluster.

Recipe and photo by our talented friend Ruth @thealternativebreadco

Ingredients

Bread:

250g Wholesome Bread Mix

8g Active Dried Yeast

15g Sugar or honey

½ tsp Salt

300ml Water – slightly warm

Salted Caramel Sauce:
½ c Sugar

45g Butter

½ c Cream

1 tsp Sea salt flakes

Methods

Bread:

Combine all your bread ingredients together until a dough is formed.
Gently knead together into a ball, then leave in bowl and cover with a tea towel. Leave to proof until doubled in size, approx. 1 hour, this one doesn’t matter if it is left for a little longer as you want it light and airy.
Remove risen dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured bench. Gently roll the dough out to a 15mm thick and cut into 6cmx6cm squares.
Heat a medium size pot of oil to 165°C. Make the oil deep enough so that the dough won’t be touching the base and can float while cooking.
TIP: To check temperature is hot enough, place end of a wooden spoon in the oil. If it bubbles, the oil is ready. Oil is too hot if the dough goes golden brown too fast and the inside is still doughy/uncooked.
Gently place dough in the hot oil in batches and cook until golden brown, approx. 30 seconds per side. Once cooked, remove from oil and transfer onto a paper towel-lined dish. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Salted Caramel Sauce:

Measure all your sauce ingredients and place them handy to the stove.
In a heavy bottomed pot, stir sugar over a low heat until it melts, don’t panic if it forms into chunks.
Continue to heat and stir the sugar until it becomes a deep golden colour, be careful to watch this because it can quickly go from golden to burnt.
Take off the heat and mix through the butter until melted.
Stir through the cream and sea salt until combined. Add salt to your own taste preference.

Drizzle on warm fry bread and enjoy!

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