Having to change to a gluten-free diet can be very challenging for those who eat Chapatti (flat-bread) as a central part of their diet. For anyone with an allergy or intolerance to gluten, the chapatti / paratha / puri is by far the most missed item, particularly in an Indian meal. On its own gluten free flour does not offer the right consistency or form to be able to make good chapattis, but in combination with other products you can get a good suitable dough mix. See here for gluten-free bread.
Below are some of the recipe ingredients you can try out. However you many want to vary the quantities to get a consistency you prefer.
Recipe 1
Ingredients:
- Gluten free flour – 4 parts
- Buckwheat flour – 1 part
- Water
Method:
Mix the ingredients by hand. Put some aside for dusting during the preparation. Add water to the remaining mixture and mix thoroughly. Knead the dough. You can add the flour mixture or more water to get the right consistency and texture. Make medium sized dough balls to make the chapattis.
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Recipe 2
- Gluten free flour 1 cups
- Mashed potato 1/4 cup
- Vegetable oil or butter 1 Tbsp
- Salt pinch
- Warm water 1/2 cup (approximately)
- Mixture of 1 heap Tbsp rice flour, mixed with 1 Tbsp of corn starch for dusting
Method:
- Mix the ingredients by hand with some warm water and knead thoroughly. Gluten free flour usually requires more kneading.
- The dough may be too soft to be rolled out in a chapatti form. Place a plastic cling film sheet bigger than the size of the planned chapatti. Dust the sheet lightly with some flour mixture.
- Make a dough ball and then place it on top of the cling film. Flatten the dough to form a disc.
- Place a second cling film sheet on top of the dough disc and lightly dust again.
- On top of the cling film sheet, gently roll out the dough into a chapatti shape. Remove the top sheet and place the palm of your hand beneath the bottom sheet. Flip it on to your other hand. Peel off the cling film and gently place on a heated the pan to cook.
Watch the video below.
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Recipe 3
- Millet four (Bajra) – 1 part
- Sorgum flour (Jawar) – 1 part
- Water
- Plastic cling film/foil/ wax paper to help roll the chapatti
Method: See recipe 2
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Recipe 4
(adapted from the Pakistani Celiac Society)
- Gluten free flour – 1 cup
- Salt (optional)
- Milk enough to mix the flour
- Butter 1 tsp
- Xanthun gum 1/2 tsp
- Gram flour for dusting
Method:
- Mix flour, xanthun gum and salt with a spoon.
- Now start adding milk to the flour slowly and gradually while mixing it well to the flour.
- Use your hands to blend and knead the flour. Knead till you get the right consistency and enough to give it shape.
- Make round medium sized dough balls from the mixture and leave them for 1/2 hr to absorb the extra moisture.
- Use gram flour as dusting flour, dust a flat surface with it and try to roll down the balls while giving it a shape of a chapatti/roti or bread.
- Try to make it as thin as possible with minimum amount of dust. Grease a non stick pan with butter and cook the bread on low flame.
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Recipe 5
- Cornmeal (medium ground) 2 cups
- Boiling water 1.5 cups
- Plastic cling film or sheet/ foil/ wax paper
- Oil or ghee to cover the plastic sheet (optional)
Method:
- Place the corn meal flour in a bowl and add boiling water to it. Mix with a spatula or fork and leave to cool.
- Knead the mixture to make a soft to firm dough consistency for rolling out. Leave aside for 30 min.
- Knead again to get a soft smooth dough.
- Divide the dough into medium sized balls. These chapatis are thicker.
- The dough can be sticky or difficult to handle. You can try to roll it out using your hands as normal, or see recipe 2 method on how to roll out the chapati using plastic cling film or sheet.