Tweaking my Gluten Free Dumplings recipe

[GreyGnome]

Hello,

I am trying to make gluten free dumplings that are as chewy and delicious as the ones mom used to make. I came up with this recipe. I wanted millet for its mild flavor, white rice because it's ubiquitous (though to my mind a bit grainy), potato starch to give it some good heaviness, and tapioca, again to take the edge off the graininess of the rice.

It turned out pretty well but is still a bit light to my taste. And my daughter didn't like them. When I was young, we would gobble up the dumplings wholesale if mom let us. So to have my daughter reject the plain dumplings is a bit sad.

Anyway I'm wondering if you have any suggestions about what I could do to make this dough denser? I think that's one of the magic touches that are missing.

• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 2 tbsp potato starch
• 2 tbsp tapioca flour (4 tbsp together makes 1/4 cup)
• 1/4 c white rice flour

...a total of 1 cup of flours, for those keeping score at home. Plus, I added

• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/8 cup source cream
• 1/2 cup or more of water, until the appropriate gooey texture. (this probably should have been milk or coconut milk but I didn't have any)

I mixed it all, and dropped it into my pot of boiling water. They came out nicely, except the density. And for flavor, maybe I could just use 3/4 cup millet flour and forget about the rice? I'm worried they'll be too grainy.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

Note that the dumplings are supposed to be like perogies, not chinese potstickers. So think of a heavier dough. I'm actually making Szilvás Gombóc (Hungarian Plum Dumplings), which call for actual mashed potatoes. Maybe I'll just go that way even though I'm trying to avoid too much potato, because I've got to get that density like mom's!!!

[Scott Adams]

Thanks for sharing this! We have a very old GF dumpling recipe in our recipes section, and it has similarities to yours. It may help you to perfect it:

 

[GreyGnome]

Thanks for the link! I guess there are two schools of thought on dumplings! The ones over in the other thread have baking powder, which would add bubbles and make the light-and-fluffiness.

The dumplings I grew up with were large-ish, chewy, and heavy! I've never known anything else. So if a dear reader observes my recipe they may end up sorely disappointed 🙂 .

At the moment, the changes I'm going to make are:

• Potatoes instead of potato starch,
• more tapioca starch instead of rice flour,
• coconut milk instead of water, and
• taking out the sour cream (my mother-in-law is lactose intolerant)

It could be the millet that's making it gritty, which would be a disappointment. I do like the flavor of the millet.

I'll let you know how my next batch turns out!

[Scott Adams]

Sounds good, and if you are going for chewiness the tapioca starch will help, and then there is xanthan gum if you have issues with them falling apart. Also, and I'm going from memory here, but I believe potato flour and potato start are two different things, and I'm not sure if it would help to experiment with potato flour as well.

[GreyGnome]

51 minutes ago, Scott Adams said:

Sounds good, and if you are going for chewiness the tapioca starch will help, and then there is xanthan gum if you have issues with them falling apart. Also, and I'm going from memory here, but I believe potato flour and potato start are two different things, and I'm not sure if it would help to experiment with potato flour as well.

Oh great- yeah I was wondering about the tapioca starch! We buy some baguettes that are mostly tapioca starch and cheese. I thought it was the cheese that was responsible for all of their delicious chewiness but maybe the tapioca has its role to play.

I did notice that the xanthan gum made a big difference between today and when I made them a couple of years ago.

 

Thanks for the tips!!!!

[GreyGnome]

Oh, the Germans have something similar: Kartoffelklöße . But the recipes I've seen are *super* potato-y. I don't think Mom used that many potatoes; there was a good amount of flour in her dough.