For the person who is gluten free, you can tend initially to stick to using either rice flour or a general all purpose gluten free flour. For self raising flour this is usually a combination of rice flour, soy flour, maize starch and tapioca starch. Gluten free flours don’t rise as well in cakes and bread as wheat flours so I often add a little baking powder as well.
Recently though while shopping, instead of just reaching for the rice flour and the self raising flour, I had a little more of a browse. I ended up coming home with a packet of besan flour which is flour made from chick peas. Besan flour is yellowy color. Other names for this flour are gram or garbanzo flour.
‘What are you going to do with that?’ Mick asked.
‘I don’t know yet. I haven’t decided,’ I replied.
I have since used it. The first time I used it instead of the usual rice flour to coat the fish before I applied the rice crumbs. It made a tasty change Mick and I agreed as it has a rather nutty taste. The next time I used it coat meat as I browned it, before putting a meal in the crock pot.
So before you automatically reach for the same flours have a look at what else is available. There is a whole range of others. Like all cooking it’s about experimenting a little.
Buckwheat, which despite isn’t name contains no wheat is actually related to the rhubarb. Like besan flour it has a nutty taste and makes really nice pancakes, though it can tend to be a bit strong on its own so a combination of buckwheat and another blander flour is a better idea.
Another flour is Amaranth. The seeds of the amaranth, which is like a type of spinach, are rich in protein. Arrowroot and cornflour made from corn, not wheat, are good for thickening stew or casseroles.
Join me next week for more gluten free ideas.
Related blogs
Something Corny and Something Fishy