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Author:
Franco Salzillo
What would a lovely bowl of curry be without flatbread? And how about a spicy stew? You can even make mini-pizzas with flatbread, and gyros, too! Versatility at its finest, that’s what these fluffy disks are.
If you’ve never made flatbread before, you’re in for a treat, and gluten-free flatbread is almost as easy to put together. The secret is substituting wheat flour with a combination of rice flour, psyllium husk, tapioca flour and baking powder. With your flour ready, you can make a firm dough with water, oil and a pinch of salt to make fluffy, tender and delicious flatbread to go with your dinner.
Although flatbread is, well, flat, you must let the dough rise as much as you can, which isn’t that much. This guarantees fluffy bread — otherwise, you might end up with a giant cracker!
As you know, there are many types of flatbread; some are thicker and some thinner. Some are buttery, and others are dry. Substituting the oil for clarified butter or ghee is a good idea if you want softer bread and adding a bit more baking powder might ensure a thicker flatbread. As with all recipes, experimentation is vital.
The recipe below makes around six 8-inch flatbreads, so multiply the recipe as needed. It might help to prepare a large batch of gluten-free flour to make flatbread for future occasions. It keeps well at room temperature, so store it in an air-tight container in the pantry.
The best way of storing flatbread is cooking it on the griddle, letting it cool to room temperature and freezing it in a freezer bag or Ziplock bag. You can store them for at least three months. Of course, nothing beats freshly made flatbread so consider making yours just before serving.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the rice flour, tapioca flour, psyllium husk powder, baking powder, salt and canola oil. Combine well with a whisk.
Pour in the water while stirring to form a dough.
Knead the dough until soft and form a ball. Return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover with a tea towel and let it rise at room temperature for an hour.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape them as disks. Roll if necessary.
Preheat a skillet, and cook the flatbread one at a time, 2-3 minutes on each side. They should puff up nicely.
