I attempted baking gluten free breads way back in 2011. Let me tell you it’s been a journey since I was never satisfied with the outcome, I have binned quite a few loaves of bread . People would tell me there are so many recipes online and yes they were but most of the recipes written then were by people who did not live in India . I never found recipes that I could easily make with gluten free grains found in India without burning a hole in my pocket. I did make a lot of breads from 2014 but they were primarily rice and starch based catering to the demands of my customers. Many people told me to try out Almond flour recipes. They are great no doubt about it but almonds in any form are expensive and there are many Celiacs who are intolerant to nuts too. So it’s not a flour I consider can be staple when one is making bread unless one is on a keto diet. Over the years, things have changed in India and most gluten free ingredients are easily available. Yay for that!
Keeping in mind availability, texture and a lot of feedback over the years I arrived at this recipe.
Jeeva’s Multigrain Bread – Gluten Free and Dairy Free
Recipe
Servings – Regular Loaf / 20 slices
Time – 2 hours
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 3/4 cup amaranth flour (ramdana/rajgira)
- 1/4 buckwheat flour (kuttu)
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (nariyal ka atta)
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast or active dry
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 300 ml warm water
- 125 ml warm non dairy milk ( almond or coconut milk) *
- 2 eggs **
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 Tbsp chia powder ***
- Fistful sunflower and seasame seeds (optional)
Method
- Prepare the loaf tin, use a parchment paper to line your loaf pan or use oil and flour to grease your pan. Use a 9×5′ inch pan –
- Take a bowl of warm water and milk, mix in the sugar and then add the yeast, let it proof for 5-10 mins. If you’re using instant yeast you can skip this step.
- Take all the flours and mix in the baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.
- After the yeast is proofed add the vegatable oil and chia powder to the it.
- To the dry mixture add the wet mixture and add the eggs one by one.
- The mixture will be like a cake a batter. If you have a stand mixer two minutes with the paddle attachment shall give you the batter in its right consistency. If you do not have a stand mixer, you may use a handheld mixer.
- Scoop the bread mixture into the prepared loaf tin, wet your fingers to smoothen the top. Sprinkle sunflower seeds and seasame seeds on the top (optional step) .
- Cover the bread mixture and let it proof for around 30 – 40 minutes or till it reaches the rim of the loaf.
- In the meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 180 degree celsius.
- Once the bread is proofed, place it in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
- Once the bread is baked, remove from pan and completely cool before slicing into it.
- The bread freezes well, so you don’t have to eat all of it in one go 😉
- My attempt here is to make a recipe which is nutritious and which toasts well. You could eat it on its own but it tastes better when toasted. I made a cheese grilled sandwich, regular vegetable sandwich and had one with some peanut butter slathered on it.
*You could use dairy milk as well.
**I haven’t tried it without making eggs but you could do so by using a egg replacer
***Chia seeds which are ground, if you find you cant source chia seeds you could use flax seeds.
Most of the ingredients are readily available on Amazon or Big Basket. You can get xanthan gum from mills and browns. They are company which manufactures only gluten free products and are based out of Bangalore, India. Foodbury.com has all the gluten free ingredients you need. They deliver pan India.
Zero G ,Wheafree are brands you can trust when it comes to gluten free products. I grind my own flours from grains most of the time. I trust 24 Mantra Organics as well, they have a lot of naturally gluten free flours and they have always assured me they mill gluten free grains in a separate facility,we have got it tested as well and thankfully they haven’t detected any gluten thus far.
If you do try it this recipe, please do tag me on Instagram @jeeva_anna_george or on Facebook @GFIndia
To learn more on #glutenfreeliving in India or more about me check out my book ‘ A Gluten Free Life, My Celiac Story’ here – https://www.amazon.in/Gluten-Free-Life-My-Celiac-Story/dp/9352776763
