Make your gluten free flour blend at home

Lately there has been a shift towards gluten free consumption. Rather than choosing a store-bought gluten free flour mix, I decided to break it down so you can make the mix at home.

Each flour has its own characteristic, it comes with a specific main character energy, and understanding that will make it very easy to make a variety of gluten free flours at home.

Before we get into gluten free, lets understand gluten. Gluten is – 2 types of protein responsible for elasticity & flexibility. So while looking for gluten free alternatives we need to ensure that these characteristics are met.

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You need a minimum of 3 gluten free flours in your mix to create a stable flour. You need something that’s starchy & 2 types of protein providing flours. Your starchy flour will make your bake softer, fluffier, & the 2 protein flours will provide structure.

Starchy Flour: cornflour / potato starch / tapioca flour / fox nut flour

Low Protein: millet flours / rice flour

High Protein: oat flour / quinoa flour / sorghum flour

You can also use almond flour & chickpea flour for savoury baking besides these.

Additionally, for gluten free flours to work well in recipes we need to add a binding agent – commonly used is Xanthan gum. If baking bread the preferred binder is Psyllium husk. The amount of Xanthan gum will vary depending on what you are baking, it can range anywhere from ¼ tsp – ½ tsp per cup of gluten free flour blend.

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 If substitutiting your homemade GF flour in a recipe, a few things to keep in mind:

-  GF flours are denser than wheat flour. Each flour varies in their densities.

-  They have higher moisture absorption – reduce flour by 10%

-  They have lower fat tolerance – reduce fat by 20%

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My go-to gluten free flour blend recipe:

Starchy flour: cornflour - 15 gm

Low protein: millet flour (ragi*) & rice flour - 25 gm

High protein: oat flour - 15 gm

Almond flour - 5 gm

Makes 60 gm - approx 1/2 cup flour

*my preference as I enjoy the taste of ragi