Barbari
Barbari is recognised by two things: deep grooves pressed with the fingers and a lacquered surface. That surface is roomal — a cooked paste of flour and water brushed onto the dough before baking. The gelatinised starch forms a glassy layer in the oven, giving the bread its shine and giving the seeds something to hold on to.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Dough 20 min
- Rising 120 min
- Roomal glaze 10 min
- Shaping and grooving 30 min
- Baking 18 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneMix a wet dough and knead briefly
Combine the flour with the yeast, sugar and salt, add the warm water and oil and knead for 8 minutes. The dough is high in hydration and sticky — do not add flour, because that moisture is what gives the bread its open, holey crumb.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 350 ml water · 5 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp oil
Rise for two hours
Leave in an oiled, covered bowl for 2 hours, until at least doubled and full of bubbles. Do not cut this short — the long rise gives the bread its flavour and holey crumb.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 350 ml water · 5 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp oil
Cook the roomal glaze
Whisk a tablespoon of flour into cold water, add the soda and sugar and cook 3 minutes, stirring, until you have a translucent, thin paste. Cool it — cooking and cooling take about 10 minutes together. The soda raises the pH and speeds up browning — without it the bread stays pale despite the glaze.
Ingredients: 1 tbsp plain flour · 150 ml water · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · ½ tsp sugar
A translucent paste — the starch has gelatinised.Stretch the dough into a long oval
Heat the oven to 250°C (ideally with a baking stone or an upturned tray inside and an empty tray on the floor). Divide the dough in two and stretch each piece by hand on baking paper into an oval 35 cm long and 1.5 cm thick. Do not use a rolling pin: it would press out the bubbles built up over two hours. Cover and leave for 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 350 ml water · 5 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp oil
Press deep grooves with your fingers
Dip your fingers in oil and draw them along the dough, pressing 5–6 deep grooves right down to the paper. The grooves are not decoration: they divide the dough into strands that rise separately, and they are why barbari tears lengthways by hand.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 350 ml water · 5 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp oil
Grooves right to the bottom, fingers dipped in oil.Brush with glaze and scatter the seeds
Brush the whole surface with the cooled roomal, filling the grooves, and scatter over sesame and nigella. The glaze is the glue here — seeds scattered on dry dough fall off at the first touch.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp sesame seeds · 2 tbsp nigella seeds
The glaze fills the grooves and holds the seeds.Bake 18 minutes at 250°C with steam
Slide the breads on their paper onto the hot stone or tray, throw a few ice cubes into the tray on the oven floor and bake at 250°C for 16–18 minutes (if both do not fit at once, bake them one at a time). The bread should be deep gold and glossy. Cool on a rack and eat it the same day — barbari stales fast, which is why in Iran it is bought fresh from the oven.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 350 ml water · 5 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 2 tbsp oil
Before you start
The glaze without soda
Flour and water alone still give shine, but the bread comes out markedly paler. Soda raises the surface pH and accelerates the Maillard reaction — the same mechanism as pretzels dipped in lye, only far gentler.
What to eat it with
In Iran barbari is eaten in the morning with a salty, feta-like white cheese, walnuts and mint, alongside black tea. It is also ideal for dipping in soup and for sandwiches — the open crumb soaks up sauce while the crust stays crisp.
The grooves must be deep
Shallow ones close during the oven spring and the bread is simply an oval flatbread. Press your fingers right down to the paper — the dough looks separated into strands, and that is the correct sight before baking.
