Bulgar Alternatives

[Erycha]

Hi,

I'm a young adult who is Gluten-Free. I have not been tested but my problems all went away when I went gluten-free and I would like to stay this way, problem free. I enjoy cooking and as a bi-product of not being able to eat things I learned to cook for myself, my mom having allot of trouble finding things that I could eat (mostly cause we couldn't figure out what kept making me sick). I really like Middle Eastern and Indian food and have several cook books but they call for types of dough that I can't find recipes for easily and other things such as Bulgar. (From what I understand Bulgar is still on the no no list.) Is there a type of food that works well in recipes in which it is called for? A decent substitute if you will.

Other foods that I am having trouble finding substitutes for:

Phyllo dough ( if i could get a recipe for the original i think i can play with this until i make an edible, yummy gluten-free alternative.)

Tabbouleh (alternative recipe)

Couscous (alternative recipe)

Thanks so much!

Erycha

[Dada2hapas]

I really like quinoa as a substitute for many things, as it actually tastes good, and then it's more nutritious than some of the other "starchy" substitutes. I prefer pasta made from quinoa/corn over other gluten-free pasta, and wonder if there's a gluten-free couscous made of that.

Here's a recipe for Tabbouleh, been wanting to try a variation soon.

Open Original Shared Link

Phyllo might be a tougher thing to do well. Without the gluten that gives regular dough the properties we miss, might not be able to get it so nice and thin. I'd love a good recipe though.

[celiac-mommy]

I was also going to mention quinoa. I love it for all types of meals. sweet and savory!

[tarnalberry]

for tabbouleh, I'd use millet.

for couscous, I'd probably use quinoa, but maybe millet.

[Juliebove]

PCC natural market sells Tabbouleh made of quinoa. It's very good!

[lpellegr]

I substitute cooked millet for couscous and it seems to work well. The only place I have seen a recipe for phyllo (she spells it "filo") is Rebecca Reilly's "Gluten-Free Baking" cookbook. She is a professional chef, so it might be easy for her, but here's her recipe:

1-3/4 c rice flour

1/4 c sweet rice flour

4 t xanthan gum

1 t unflavored gelatin

1 egg

1/4 to 1/2 cup milk

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 T honey

Mix together dry ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients large enough to hold the liquids. Lightly beat the egg with 1/4 c of the milk plus the butter and the honey. You may need to stir in more milk (she doesn't say what you are looking for here, but probably just enough to moisten all the dry stuff and get it to hold together in a ball). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap until you are ready to use it. Refrigerate if not using right away.

She uses it for baklava by doing this:

Cut the dough into 6 pieces, keeping all but the one you are working with wrapped in plastic. Roll out one piece at a time between 2 sheets of plastic wrap about 16 inches long, rolling as thin as possible. Remove the top piece of plastic and flip the dough over into the pan. Continue to roll and layer, and I would think you would work this like regular phyllo, brushing with butter and keeping it from drying out. Obviously, remove the plastic wrap in between layers.

Another option for a phyllo substitution is rice paper wrappers from an asian store. You generally have to dunk or soak them in water to make them pliable, but it could work for spanakopita. You might have to experiment to get them to crisp up just right.