Gluten Free Vegan Tarhana Recipe
Generally, milk or yoghurt is used in making tarhana, but making vegan tarhana is not impossible. You just don't use yogurt or milk, just add some water if needed and you can prepare your tarhana the way you always do. But unfortunately, making gluten-free tarhana is not that easy. Tarhana is a food that basically feeds the beneficial bacteria with the sugar and gluten and fermented for days. If these bacteria can't find anything to eat and die, the dough will rot. In this case, how is gluten-free tarhana fermented?
First of all, I recommend that you read the detailed article in the tarhana dough recipe and understand the process of making and fermenting tarhana. I'm just assuming you've read the article now. In this recipe using gluten-free flour varieties, the bacteria formed during fermentation are fed only with the sugar in it. But the amount of sugar is very low, so it is necessary to try to sufficiently use this food for as long as possible, since the food of the bacteria is limited. For this, it is very useful to slow down the fermentation process.
In order to do this, I did not use yeast or derivative ingredients that would speed up fermentation in gluten-free tarhana. Instead, I preferred to use chickpeas, which are fermented very slowly but definitely fermented. If you want to learn more about the fermentation and fermentation process of chickpeas, you can take a look at the chickpea starter recipe.
Although the fermentation slows down in gluten-free tarhana, it still does not last as long as normal tarhana. Depending on the weather and room temperature, 3-5 days is quite a suitable time. While we're talking about the weather, if you live in a humid geography, it would be appropriate to check your tarhana more often than once a day and add flour more often if you deem necessary. The moist environment will create a suitable environment for the growth of unwanted bacteria as well as desired bacteria.
It is possible to change the types of flour used in the recipe and to use different flours in different proportions. But if you have the opportunity, I recommend that you follow the recipe as it is. You should especially avoid store bought gluten-free flour mixes. Ready mixes contain additives and these additives can disrupt the fermentation process. The mixture in the recipe is a mixture that is not strongly felt, does not harm the fermentation and gives very good results in terms of taste.
How Does Gluten-Free Tarhana Taste?
When I started making gluten-free tarhana, I did not expect a perfect result. I was expecting it to have a more floury flavor rather than the sour tarhana flavor I love. But it wasn't what I expected. Since the fermentation was successful, the sour taste of the tarhana was exactly as it should be, and the smell was the same. It is not like gluten-free, but rather like it is made with whole wheat flour, and I got a slightly nutty flavor. The biggest difference from the tarhana I always make was the color. Due to the dark color of the flour, the tarhana was not as bright orange as the tarhana I made with white flour, but it still turned out to be an appetizing color. To be honest, it was a result and recipe that made me proud. I hope it will reach as many people who eat gluten-free as possible and help ensure that gluten-free diets are no longer a barrier to them.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
- 1 kg of red pepper,
- 1 onion,
- 3/4 cup of chickpeas,
- 1 tablespoon of salt,
- 500 g of buckwheat flour,
- 300 g teff flour,
- 100-150 g of cornmeal.
Preparation
- Wash the chickpeas and soak them overnight,
- The next day, chop the peppers and onion,
- Take them in a saucepan and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, until softens in its own juice,
- Remove from heat and let it cool,
- In the meantime, grind the chickpeas in a food processor as much as possible and take them into a deep mixing bowl,
- After the peppers and onions have cooled, add them to the mixing bowl,
- Add buckwheat flour and teff flour and start kneading,
- Add salt in the meantime and knead by adding flour until you get a dough that does not stick to your hands,
- Cover the dough and set aside away from the sun at room temperature,
- After that, knead the dough by adding some cornmeal (this amount will change every day, but usually a handful is enough) every day for 4 days,
- On the 4th day, tear off thin pieces of palm-width from your dough and spread them on a table cloth away from sun,
- Turn these pieces upside down the next day,
- When the other sides are dry, crumble these pieces with your hands and leave them like this for another day,
- Sift the tarhana with a strainer and pass the remaining large pieces through the food processor and sift again,
- Spread the tarhana you have made into powder on a table cloth and set aside at room temperature until it dries well.
Enjoy it...