The other day, a fellow gluten free blogger asked for suggestions for a corn flour substitution. One of her readers wanted to make tamales but needed corn flour. I had a brilliant idea and shared it with everyone on my Facebook Page, but wanted to let all of you in on the idea as well.
I have a "Corn" Tortilla Chip recipe made from green plantains that really do have a corn taste to them. I knew plantains were the answer here, but not plantain flour (too starchy and doesn't have a corn taste). I suggested buying the roasted plantain chips that Whole Foods (prepackaged in section with nuts, dried fruits, chocolate covered everything. May not be in bulk aisle but somewhere else in store) and Sprouts sell in their bulk section and grind it in a food processor until flour is formed. What a great idea!!!
That immediately got me thinking about corn tortillas and how many recipes I could do with them! I tried this recipe so many different ways. I tried to use my tortilla chip recipe and grind them up, I tried fresh green plantains roasted with coconut oil, and I tried the store bought chips I mention above. The winner is the store bought chips! The others just don't grind into a fine enough flour so the dough doesn't stick together. The roasted plantain chips are simply plantains, palm olein oil and salt. Palm oil is like coconut oil, a healthy saturated fat full of health benefits.
Palm oil is extracted from the flesh of the fruit of E. Guineesis. The oil is semi-solid at room temperature and is highly resistant to oxidation and prolonged exposure to heat. The palm olein has different characteristics than the palm oil, it remains completely liquid at room temperature. It is highly heat resistant, similar to palm oil, and it also resists the formation of breakdown products during frying and increases the shelf life of many products. Although palm oil and palm olein are produced from the same plant and share many similar properties, the main difference between them is their chemical state at room temperature. Semi-solid palm oil is used more frequently as a fat in bakery products, whereas liquid palm olein is considered the "gold standard" and is the most widely used oil for frying in the world.
This is such an easy recipe and blows the socks off any tortilla recipe that calls for almond or coconut flour and some eggs! I just can't throw fajitas in those and feel like they are tortillas. These can be cooked a bit longer to make them crisp or less to make them soft. Either way you can fold or roll them and feel like you are cheating and enjoying Mexican food again!!! I can't wait to make tacos next week!
Grain Free “Corn” Tortillas
Makes 10 small tortillas
Ingredients
- 2 cups (heaping) roasted salted plantain chips* (should produce 1 cup four)
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Place the plantain chips in a food processor and grind to a fine flour
- In a mixing bowl, add a cup of flour to the water and mix well
- Knead the dough and form into 10 equal size balls
- Place a ball on parchment paper and then place another piece of parchment over the top
- Roll out into a thin small tortilla or use a tortilla press
- Carefully peel off the dough from the parchment, they are thin and delicate!
- Cook eat tortilla in an ungreased skillet over medium high heat for 30 -60 seconds on each side, slightly brown
Quick notes
*These are found at Whole Foods (read text above) or sold in bulk at Sprouts.
