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gluten_free2023-07-31 01:29 pm
highlyeccentric) wrote in gluten_free2023-07-31 01:29 pm
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Becky Excell's gluten-free "speedy naan"
This doesn't come out exactly like naan - looking at my Madhur Jaffery Vegetarian India cookbook which I've recently reclaimed, the texture might be closer to roti. Nevertheless it's delicious - not just because it's the first flatbread other than big shelf-stable lebanese breads or soft tacos that I've been able to eat for many years. My partner, who has a stack of frozen ready-to-heat roti in the freezer, will eat this instead.
I present to you an annotated & slightly tweaked recipe:
1. This recipe is: optimised for basic gluten-free flour mix. Becky Excell is based in London and uses Doves Farm . I've been using Ograms in Aus, although I've just bought a bag of Woollies brand and will try it on that soon. I'd also be interested to try it with chickpea flour, or a mix of both, and suspect one might need more raising agent if so.
2. This recipe could be: dairy-free, or lactose free, on appropriate substitute yoghurt (Excell's cookbook implies she has tested this). Probably works on wheat flour, too.
3. This recipe needs: minimal kneading, some rolling (or possibly slapping - according to Jaffrey, rural style roti/chapati are "slapped" into shape, and while I suspect that works the dough too much for gf flour, I want to try a sort of hand-based smoothing method next time), a smooth worksurface, and ability to fry things in a hot pan.
- 1 cup gluten-free SR flour, or plain flour with appropriate amounts of baking powder
- 1 cup greek or other thick natural yoghurt
- 2 tsp nigella seeds
- pinch of salt
Substitutions: I have made this on a mix of gk yoghurt, sour cream, and milk added slowly until the texture looked "right". You might need to make it first to know what "right" looks like, because I bet it's not the same as wheaten flour naans. If you don't have nigella seeds, I recommend cumin seeds or black sesame seeds.
Quantity: makes about four. You want to keep them small, as gluten-free mixes lack structural integrity.
1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, then use your hands to bring them together into a large ball.
HINT: coat your hands in peanut oil first. No, not flour. I don't know how Ms Excell or indeed anyone does this with floured hands and floured surfaces - it throws out the composition and you just end up with dough stuck to your hands. Use peanut oil, coconut fat, or vegetable oil.
Thinly coat a smooth board with oil, and a rolling pin (or clean label-less wine bottle).
2. Divide the ball into 4. Shape each briefly by hand so that there's no clumpy bits left. Roll out to about 4mm thick. Flip onto baking paper (use the flipper to test if the naan has structural integrity).
3. Heat a large frying pan. Becky Excell recommends cooking them in a dry frying pan; I've used a smear of oil. Probably depends on how good your pan is.
4. Cook 1-2 at a time, flipping when browned on first side. Pressing down on them after you flip will encourage a bit of puff.
These are tasty but don't keep well. I suspect the wet dough keeps fine, though, so you could make a double batch and reserve more dough for later use.
Becky Excell is a white londoner with a Malaysian-English husband, so I'm very excited by "Quick and Easy Gluten-Free"'s prospects of offering me recipes that are made on things I can obtain in Sydney, use supermarket GF staples where sensible, and might actually cover some of the Aus-standard Asian restaurant and home cooking staples I can no longer eat. So far, however, I have just made naan several times.
I present to you an annotated & slightly tweaked recipe:
1. This recipe is: optimised for basic gluten-free flour mix. Becky Excell is based in London and uses Doves Farm . I've been using Ograms in Aus, although I've just bought a bag of Woollies brand and will try it on that soon. I'd also be interested to try it with chickpea flour, or a mix of both, and suspect one might need more raising agent if so.
2. This recipe could be: dairy-free, or lactose free, on appropriate substitute yoghurt (Excell's cookbook implies she has tested this). Probably works on wheat flour, too.
3. This recipe needs: minimal kneading, some rolling (or possibly slapping - according to Jaffrey, rural style roti/chapati are "slapped" into shape, and while I suspect that works the dough too much for gf flour, I want to try a sort of hand-based smoothing method next time), a smooth worksurface, and ability to fry things in a hot pan.
- 1 cup gluten-free SR flour, or plain flour with appropriate amounts of baking powder
- 1 cup greek or other thick natural yoghurt
- 2 tsp nigella seeds
- pinch of salt
Substitutions: I have made this on a mix of gk yoghurt, sour cream, and milk added slowly until the texture looked "right". You might need to make it first to know what "right" looks like, because I bet it's not the same as wheaten flour naans. If you don't have nigella seeds, I recommend cumin seeds or black sesame seeds.
Quantity: makes about four. You want to keep them small, as gluten-free mixes lack structural integrity.
1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, then use your hands to bring them together into a large ball.
HINT: coat your hands in peanut oil first. No, not flour. I don't know how Ms Excell or indeed anyone does this with floured hands and floured surfaces - it throws out the composition and you just end up with dough stuck to your hands. Use peanut oil, coconut fat, or vegetable oil.
Thinly coat a smooth board with oil, and a rolling pin (or clean label-less wine bottle).
2. Divide the ball into 4. Shape each briefly by hand so that there's no clumpy bits left. Roll out to about 4mm thick. Flip onto baking paper (use the flipper to test if the naan has structural integrity).
3. Heat a large frying pan. Becky Excell recommends cooking them in a dry frying pan; I've used a smear of oil. Probably depends on how good your pan is.
4. Cook 1-2 at a time, flipping when browned on first side. Pressing down on them after you flip will encourage a bit of puff.
These are tasty but don't keep well. I suspect the wet dough keeps fine, though, so you could make a double batch and reserve more dough for later use.
Becky Excell is a white londoner with a Malaysian-English husband, so I'm very excited by "Quick and Easy Gluten-Free"'s prospects of offering me recipes that are made on things I can obtain in Sydney, use supermarket GF staples where sensible, and might actually cover some of the Aus-standard Asian restaurant and home cooking staples I can no longer eat. So far, however, I have just made naan several times.