I found a new website to haunt for gluten free baking, I saw a picture on Pinterest that actually looked like an edible dinner roll and I followed the rabbit down the hole and ended up making four different gluten free recipes yesterday, most turned out rather well, the tortillas were a disaster, sort of. The website is artofglutenfreebaking.com and a great resource for anyone who wants ideas, new recipes, or a place to start. I really appreciate that the recommended flours are cheap and widely available, even if I'm not a huge rice flour fan personally, I substituted my own blend of oats, millet, corn, brown rice, and tapioca and it worked well for everything but the tortillas (the fault is mine, not the recipe). The only time I have successfully made gluten free tortillas was with white rice flour and I didn't use that this time so it is not surprising it didn't turn out, but rather I ended up with something that looked a little like naan, that wonderful Indian flatbread which I gave up on making gluten free as all the recipes seem to call for yogurt and I can't find a good substitute. They tasted like baking powder and were nowhere near a tortilla, but the kids liked them so they didn't go to waste, and I had an idea.
I tried it this morning with a little leftover flour blend (equal parts oat flour, tapioca starch, corn starch, millet and brown rice flour) from yesterday and for the first time in years, I got to experience the joy that is naan, or as close to it as someone can get who has never been to India or an Indian restaurant. I adapted the tortilla recipe to my old wheat flour naan recipe and got something fairly close, and rather tasty too! The following recipe is still in its primordial phase, feel free to try it, but it is still more an idea than a fact:
Gluten Free Naan:
2 cups flour
1 tsp xanthin gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp nutritional yeast
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter flavored shortening (or real butter)
1 egg
warm water as needed (1/3-1/2 cup or so)
Whisk together dry ingredients, cut in shortening with a fork or pastry blender, then mix in the egg and enough water to make a thick, wet, sticky batter. Cover and set in a warm moist place for at least 45 minutes and allow to rise. Heat a cast iron skillet on the stove top over medium high heat until very hot. With wet hands, separate the dough into 8 balls, keeping covered and moist until ready to cook. One at a time, flatten each ball into a disk about 1/4 inch thick and transfer to the hot pan, flip after thirty seconds or so and cook on both sides, flipping again as needed to cook through. Transfer to a towel set on a wire rack and cover. To make the disks, I sprayed a plate with cooking spray, placed the dough on top and used wet hands to flatten it and then used my hands and a fork to transfer to the pan, respraying with oil after each disk. Enjoy!
