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Tuesday 16 April 2013

Gluten-free Indian Fry Bread (Navajo Tacos)

I remember having these years ago at a friend's house.  They were delicious.  But, they were also filled with flour.  After some experimentation, I came up with this wonderful rendition of what I enjoyed eating so very much.  These have gotten two-thumbs up from all who've been lucky enough to try them!  They're simply delicious and SO easy!  Seriously, I couldn't believe how fast they were to whip up and fry up. 
I think my favorite way to eat these is topped with chicken fajitas, but the taco version is also great!

Gluten-free Indian Fry Bread

Makes 4-6 servings
 
* Note: If you want bigger, fatter fry breads, double the recipe and roll between two sheets of plastic wrap. You can keep reusing the same 2 sheets of plastic wrap.  Be aware that you'll need to coat your hands w/ oil to transfer the fry bread from the plastic wrap to your hand, so you can carefully lower into the oil to fry.  Yum!
 
Heat in a large skillet over medium to med-high heat:
1-2 inches frying oil (I like Avocado oil or Canola oil)
 
Mix in a bowl:
1/4 tsp xanthan gum 
OR
1 cup brown rice flour
Scant ½ cup sorghum flour
Scant ½ cup tapioca starch
¼ cup potato starch
1 tsp xanthan gum

Add: 
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
 
Add and mix in with a spoon (I find using the back of the spoon helps get things properly mixed in gluten-free baking):
1 cup milk (lactose-free works great)

Dough mixed and ready to flatten and fry!

The dough will be a little sticky to the touch, so you will want to get yourself a little bowl of oil (vegetable or olive oil are fine) OR you can use a bowl of water and wet your hands before and during flattening. 
 
You’ll be flattening these with your hands, so you want to make sure you get only enough dough that you can easily handle the dough. Put some oil OR water on your hands, so the dough doesn’t stick to you. Grab a small handful of dough and flatten in your hands.  I like to aim for ¼ - ½ inch thick dough. 
 
Carefully place the dough into the hot oil.  You sort of drape it into the pan. It should sink and then rise to the top. Fry on each side until light golden brown, should be about 1-2 minutes per side.  (Don't cook too long or they'll be too crispy). You’ll see it puffing up nicely.   Remove and place on a paper-towel lined cookie sheet and allow it to drain while you fry the other pieces.  I have found that these don’t absorb much oil, which is great! 

Frying in 1" - 2" oil.  

Besides eating with tacos or fajitas, these are great with a bit of honey butter, or powdered sugar on top for a make-shift donut.
 
Serve warm!  Enjoy!
 
* These re-heat really well in a toaster oven or regular oven.  They regain their slight crunch and are delicious with leftovers! 
Fresh, hot fry bread - ready to top and eat!

Gluten-Free Indian Fry Bread Navajo Tacos Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

14 comments:

  1. how many people do this recipe feed?

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  2. I found it fed 4 adults and 2 kids with no problem. :)

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  3. Thanks.I been dying for some taco bell chalupas, but being gluten free, I can't give in.I like the ingredents for this recipe because i already have them at home. Are you familiar with The Healthy Gluten Free Life by Tammy Credicott? All of of your ingredients matches hers for many recipes

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  4. Hmm. Nope, I haven't heard of that one, but I'll have to take a look. Most of my recipes have been lots of recipe reading, trial and error with modifying gluten-filled recipes to make them gluten-free.

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  5. Okay, yeah the book is awesome. I will let you know how the dry bread turn out also.

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  6. Great, thanks. We have some severe nut allergies in my family, so it looks like many of her recipes (at least on her blog) won't work for us, as I try to use nuts sparingly. But gluten-free cooking is all about finding what works for you and makes you happy to eat!

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  7. These were amazing! We used Rice Dream rice milk instead of regular milk and they worked just fine. My son is very happy so we'll probably be making these often...

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    Replies
    1. So glad you liked them! And that they worked well with the rice milk.

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  8. My family goobled these up and were grinning from ear to ear this evening as they ate them for dinner. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe! I used a corn tortilla press to form my bread and it worked a treat. I loved how soft this dough was and delicious to eat!

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  9. Could I replace the sorghum flour with anything?

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    Replies
    1. You can just use the same amount of brown rice flour in place of the sorghum. It won't have as rich a flavor in the end product, but will work similarly in terms of texture and cooking.

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  10. Replies
    1. I have found they freeze well. I reheat covered loosely with foil in the oven, then remove the foil to regain a bit of crispiness afterwards.

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