Tag Archives: free

Uzhunnappam – Gluten Free Dal Patties

Lunch and Light Meals, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Indian Dal rice flour patties

These south indian patties are a great little bread to eat with a curry, or even to top with baba ganoush for a tasty snack or light lunch.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup urad dal
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 1/4 cup rice flour (or gluten free flour)
  • 2/3 cup desiccated coconut
  • oil for frying
  • salt

Directions

  1. Place the urad dal in a frying pan and dry fry over a medium heat until the dal turns golden brown.
  2. Transfer the dal to a grinder (blender) and grind to a fine powder. Place the powder into a large bowl and set aside
  3. Finely chop the onion, and garlic. Add the onion, garlic and cumin powder to the dal powder in the bowl.
  4. Add the rice (GF) flour and coconut to the bowl as well. Slowly stir in 2 cups of water, or just enough to give a thick batter
  5. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a frying pan at a medium heat (induction 6). Spoon in a large spoon size amount of the batter into the pan, and spread it out to make a round about 10cm across. Cook until crisp and golden underneath (4-5 minutes). Turn over and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from the pan and serve hot. Repeat for the rest of the batter.

Gluten Free Pikelets

Breakfast, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Liam decided he wanted to cook this morning and had a whole bunch of ingredients out on the bench. Including, cheese, chocolate, eggs, flour, maple syrup and almond milk. “I want to make a cheesey, chocolatey, little pancake” he said. “I’m not sure about the feta and chocolate together, but we could make little pikelets with melted chocolate” I replied, “oh, but there is loads of sugar in pikelets” I muttered. “No problem, we can use maple syrup instead of sugar” he said. And so this recipe was born. A slightly sweeter, thicker pancake mix, with baking powder so that it would rise, and it worked really well.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (250ml) gluten free flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 180ml almond milk
  • pinch of salt
  • a little water

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix well
  2. Add a little water to get a thick batter, but one that can be spooned into the pan (about 50ml depending on your flour).
  3. Heat a frying pan on a moderate heat (induction 6).
  4. Place a desert size scoop of batter into the pan. Spread it a little to have the batter an even thickness of approx 1/2cm thick.
  5. Cook all the batter in batches and serve warm with melted chocolate, honey, jam and coconut yoghurt, or other toppings of your choice

Gluten Free Gingerbread cookies

Treats, , , , , , , , ,

These cookies use only 3 ingredients and depending on your preference (and how long you cook them) can be soft and moorish, or crunchy gingerbreads. This recipe makes about 12 cookies, and while they seldom last longer than a couple of days, they could be stored longer in an air tight container if you can resist them that long.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cashews or almonds
  • 1 cup dates (cheap dried dates is fine)
  • 1 Tbsp ginger powder

Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Place the nuts in a food processor with the knife attachment. Blend until the nuts are finely chopped
  3. Add the dates and ginger powder to the food processor and blend until the mixture balls up. If it doesn’t ball up then add a little water. I usually don’t have to add any more than 30-50ml of water, so add a really small amount at a time – you don’t want it too wet, you just want to add enough that it combines the ingredients and balls up the mixture.
  4. Grease a baking tray or the base of a metal oven dish.
  5. Roll the mixture into balls 20-30mm in diameter. Flatten the balls into cookie shapes with your fingers
  6. Cook the cookies in the oven for 10-15 minutes (length of time depends on how wet the mixture is) until the cookies start to harden and go golden (they will also give off a delicious smell). Cool on a wire rack.

Almond Bread

Lunch and Light Meals, , , , , ,

This bread takes just minutes to prepare, and is delicious either as it is with a poached egg, or toasted with hummus or avocado. It keeps for up to a week in an air tight container, or slice it and then freeze it for later (if you manage not to eat it all)

Ingredients

  • 200g almond meal or ground almonds
  • 60g tapioca flour or tapioca starch
  • 3 large free range eggs
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
  • 80ml olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp coconut cream or coconut yoghurt
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
  • 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • pinch of salt
  • 30g sunflower seeds, toasted

For the topping

  • 2 tsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp sunflower seed

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius (315 degrees fahrenheit)
  2. Line a 22cm x 12cm bread (loaf) tin with baking paper on the bottom, and grease the sides with olive oil
  3. Combine all the ingredients except the sunflower seeds in a bowl or mixer and stir to combine
  4. Toast the sunflower seeds in a dry pan until golden and then fold into the batter
  5. Spoon the batter into the bread tin.
  6. Top with 2 tsp of sesame seeds and 2 tsp of sunflower seeds (not toasted)
  7. Bake on the middle rack of your oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer or fork inserted into the middle of your loaf comes out clean
  8. Remove from the oven and tip out of the bread tin onto a rack to cool.
  9. Slice and serve as is or toasted.

Gluten Free Breakfast Muffins

Breakfast, Treats, , , , , , , ,

Breakfast muffins

These are delicious muffins that are perfect for a snack or for breakfast. The combination of figs and cranberries makes them both rich and sweet.

Ingredients

  • 2-3 ripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 Tbsp ghee
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • seeds of half a vanilla bean
  • 1/2 Tbsp grated (desiccated) coconut
  • 1/2 cup sifted coconut flour
  • 5 dried figs, chopped into pieces
  • handful of chopped cashew nuts
  • handful frozen or dried cranberries

Directions

  1. Pre-warm the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
  2. Mash the bananas in a bowl.
  3. Add eggs and ghee and mix well.
  4. Add cinnamon, baking soda, salt and vanilla. Mix
  5. Add grated coconut, mix.
  6. Add coconut flour and mix well
  7. Add the figs and cashews and stir through. 
  8. Half fill the muffin cups with batter, and add some cranberries before filling the cups
  9. Sprinkle with a little coconut on top for garnishing
  10. Cook at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20-25 minutes

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Beck – Morning Phase

 

 

 

 

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes

Breakfast, , , , ,

Banana pancakes

Sunday morning isn’t complete in our house without pancakes for breakfast, so when we decided to go Gluten and Dairy Free this was my first cooking challenge – how to create a terrific pancakes recipe so that we didn’t miss out on our Sunday morning family ritual. This one certainly works a treat and has become a firm family favorite!

Ingredients

  • 250ml sweet potato flour
  • 250ml rice flour
  • 1 x 200ml packet of coconut milk
  • 2-3 bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • Coconut oil to cook.

Directions

  1. Measure the sweet potato and rice flours out into a bowl.
  2. Blend the coconut milk and bananas together in a blender
  3. Add the eggs, and coconut milk mixture to the flour
  4. Stir well. Add a little water (about 50ml) to the mixture to get a runny batter consistency
  5. Cook in a well heated pan with a little (few drops) of coconut oil
  6. Serve with freshly cut fruit or any other topping for a delicious breakfast treat for the whole family.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Jack Johnson – Banana Pancakes

 

 

Moist Gluten Free Chocolate cake

Treats, , , , , , , , ,

Moist Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

With my son’s birthday fast approaching, and children in his class with nuts and gluten allergies, making a birthday cake this year took a little bit of experimentation. This chocolate cake received the children’s seal of approval, with not a single piece left in the box that we sent into his classroom.

Ingredients

  • 50g good quality cocoa powder (sifted)
  • 125ml boiling water
  • seeds of one pod vanilla
  • 70g sweet potato flour
  • 60g rice flour
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 150ml coconut oil (or regular olive oil, not extra virgin olive oil – it is too strong tasting)
  • 100ml honey (or use maple syrup)
  • 3 large eggs
  • handful of frozen cranberries (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat the oven at 170 degrees Celsius (340 degrees Fahrenheit).
  2. Sift the cocoa into a bowl. Add the boiling water and stir well to make a smooth paste. Put aside to cool down while you prepare the rest
  3. Measure the sweet potato and rice flour into a separate bowl. Add the bicarbonate of soda and salt and set aside.
  4. In the bowl of a food processor or mixer, add the coconut oil, honey and eggs.
  5. Mix for about 3 minutes until well aerated.
  6. Add the chocolate mixture to the mixture in the foodprocessor or mixer. Mix thoroughly.
  7. Add the flour mixture to the foodprocessor or mixer. Mix thoroughly.
  8. Prepare as springform cake tin of 20-25cm with a base lining of baking paper. Oil the sides of the tin with a little coconut oil.
  9. Pour the mixture into the tin.
  10. Sprinkle over the cranberries or other berries (optional)
  11. Cook the cake for 40 minutes in the oven or until it is still moist in the centre, but cooked through.
  12. Serve warm or cooled down.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Breaks Co-op – Sounds Familiar