Gluten free batter

[Sleepman]

Missed fried battered fish. Tried this recipe from New York Times. It was fab on squid and prawns yesterday.

For the Batter

1cup chickpea flour

3tablespoons cornstarch ( we call cornflour)

1½teaspoons baking powder

½teaspoon salt

Pinch of cayenne (optional) (not tried)

1cup warmish water

Whisk up and wait 30 minutes before use.

Getting frier out of depths on the loft and some haddock next.

[Fruitandnutcase]

Thank you for that. Good to have a recipe to use at home - a lot of fish and chip shops around here sell GF fish and chips. Some of them only do it on a Monday and Tuesday - no idea why it’s those days 🤔 but there are some that do it every day. I always find the batter is really crisp and tasty - not sure why but I like it.

Don’t know if you know about Coeliac U.K. but they produce a bible that lists what feels like every GF food and ingredient known to man plus restaurants etc.. It’s worth joining them for that alone although they also have an amazing website too. coeliac.org.uk/home/

[Sleepman in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thanks.

No GF chippies here😒

I gave seen coeliac bible thanks.

I try to avoid most of breads, bakery and the like as they do not agree with me.

[Hidden in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

It's usually GF days after they change the oil in the fryers I think. Ours is the same. I wonder if they change the oil on a Sunday when they're closed?

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Hidden]

that’s what I always thought too - maybe they get busier at the end of the week and use all their fryers for regular batter.

Fish and chips has got quite expensive now but I keep telling my other half we’ve ‘got to use it or lose it.’

[Hidden in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

SO expensive! It was £30+ for 2 adults & 2 kids recently.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Hidden]

I know. I was absolutely shocked the first time I had them after the prices started to rise.

[Hidden in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Going to the chippie used to be the cheap takeout. I thought my head would fall off when she said 30odd quid !

[Anthea55]

Baking powder - check the ingredients - sometimes contains wheat.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to Anthea55]

There are gluten free version readily available. Look in free from aisle.

[Sleepman in reply to Anthea55]

Good shout. Baking powder was gluten free. Thx

[Anthea55 in reply to Sleepman]

Wheat hides everywhere!

I like the use of chickpea flour - also known as gram flour. I'm sensitive to potato as well as wheat and oats. I haven't yet found a gluten free flour mix which doesn't contain potato starch, so I might experiment with the gram flour.

[Girtonian in reply to Anthea55]

Gram flour is nice in GF pastry too. Half and half with rice flour. Plus use some xantham gum and an egg - and I use goats butter. Roll it out between 2 sheets of clingfilm. A nice chef in a Suffolk cafe gave me the gram flour tip. He wrote out the recipe for his GF apricot frangipane tart. I was so touched! But a few years later I went back and was sad to learn he had died and the cafe with all its gluten free treats had closed. I think of him whenever I make GF pastry.

[Anthea55 in reply to Girtonian]

Ah - gluten free pastry. Several years ago I thought I would experiment. My theory was that if there is no gluten, then we don't have to cook as though there is. Here's my recipe. I've posted it before, probably round about one Christmas. See what you think.

Gluten Free Pastry

Forget everything you’ve heard about keeping pastry cool, putting it in the fridge and leaving to rest. That applies to mixtures with gluten and this hasn’t got any gluten.

I used the standard proportions, 4oz flour, 2 oz butter, 2 tbsp water. Butter best if at room temperature, not cold from the fridge. I used Dove's Farm bread flour but plain flour seems to work as well. (I will have to try again using a mixture of other flours, such as the gram flour you've suggested).

Mix flour & butter then add water, then squeeze it all together by hand, working in the last crumbs of dry mix - don't be tempted to add extra water. You can use it straight away, but I think it’s even better if it’s left overnight (still at room temperature, wrapped in cling film) – probably gives time for the grains to soften. You can roll this out and use it just like 'normal' pastry. No need for rolling out between sheets of cling film, just sprinkle with flour.

I made a large batch (for my choir's Christmas concert) using a 250gm pack of butter, 500gm flour and 8 tbsp water - I also added about a level tsp gluten free baking powder and ½ tsp salt, but doubt it made much difference. This produced a crisp pastry (for mince pies) which didn't fall apart.

I find that gluten free pastry doesn't brown like normal pastry, although it browned better when I cooked it in the non-fan oven rather than the fan oven.

Leftover pastry - add handfuls of grated cheese to taste - roll out thickly and cut into strips to make cheesy biscuits / cheese straws. My late husband always liked these.

[Girtonian in reply to Anthea55]

Sounds great, thanks for sharing!

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Thankyou for sharing Sleepman 👍

[knitwitty]

My son is coeliac and I stopped eating food with gluten in when he changed to gluten free a few years ago, also it has helped with my thyroid problem enormously. I would highly recommend Becky Excell 's cookery books, they have a section on one called "fakeaways" where she gives recipes for lots of takeaway meals. My son loves these and I don't think a gluten eater would be able to tell the difference between these and gluten contains meals.

[Fluffysheep in reply to knitwitty]

I agree, Becky Excell is fantastic. She has a blog with 100s of free recipes, a very active Facebook group which is brilliant, and her books are amazing.

[knitwitty in reply to Fluffysheep]

Thank you , I forgot to mention the blog !