Okay, this is a tweaked version of Quirky Cooking’s gluten free artisan bread from her book.  I only prove for about 30 minutes, as we’re not keen on the strong yeast taste I’ve found from proving for longer and/or refrigerating.  If you also want a yeast-free version, see tips at bottom of this post.  Any more ‘free froms’?  I think I’ve just about covered the main ones!

Here goes:

Boil the kettle (not for a cuppa at this stage – time for that when the dough is proving!)

Mill for 30 seconds / speed 9:

• 30g chia seeds

Tip the chia seeds in a medium sized heat-proof glass bowl, pop on top of the TM bowl with lid in place and measure into the glass bowl:

• 90g boiling water

Give it a stir to mix in all of the chia flour and leave to ‘gel’ for 5 minutes on the bench-top.

Meanwhile, add to the TM bowl and mill 1 minute / speed 9:

• 150g brown rice

Set aside

Add to the TM bowl and mill 1 minute / speed 9:

• 110g sorghum / jowar / juwar seeds (or use the ready-made flour, both available from Indian stores) – see benefits of jowar here

Add to the bowl and sift for 6 seconds / speed 6:

• 150g freshly ground brown rice flour, from earlier
• 190g tapioca flour/starch (you can mill your own from the pearls, but they’re never as fine)
• 2 tbs (about 25g) psyllium powder*
• 1.5-2 tsp salt (according to taste)

Add to the TM bowl and mix 15 seconds / speed 6, assisting along with the spatula:

• 120g chia gel
• 30g olive oil
• 340g warm water (if you have a couple of bowls, you could weigh and heat separately for 2-3 minutes / 37 deg)
• 1 tbs dried yeast

The dough should be reasonably stiff to work with by hand, without the addition of extra flour to knead it.

• Turn the bowl upside down and release the base and blade onto a piece of greaseproof.
• Scrape the residual dough from the blade and from the inside of the bowl.
• Now coat the palms of your hands with some olive oil and lightly knead the dough, smoothing and shaping into a ball as you go.
• Transfer the ball of dough with the greaseproof into a square, (about 20x20cm, BUT 15cm x 15cm x 8cm is even better) and cover with glad-wrap, then pop into the dehydrator for 30 minutes or so at 40 degs.  Equally, you can do this in your oven.
• Pre-heat oven to 220degs, fan-forced (if using your oven to prove, just switch it directly up from 40 degs to 220 degs, ensuring you remove the glad-wrap first!!).
• Place some boiling water in a separate baking tray/pyrex onto the bottom shelf.  This creates steam and helps form a good crust.
• Once the dough has risen, bake in the oven for 60 minutes.  I suggest also covering with foil for the last 20-30 minutes to prevent any burning of the crust (this seems to happen on one side of my oven???).  Next time, I’m going to try covering in a foil ‘tent’ and baking like this for all but the last 10 minutes.
• Check that it’s cooked by tapping the bottom – it should be browned and sound hollow.  If you think it needs a bit longer, turn it over and allow to cook for another 5 minutes or so.
• Cool on a wire rack, covered with a clean tea towel to trap the steam and to help soften the crust a little.
• Once fully cooled, it should slice very nicely!

Tips:

• You can buy psyllium husks (and jowar/juwar seeds) from an Indian store.  I grind a job-lot (ie 100-200g at a time) for 1 minute / speed 9 and pop into a storage jar to use as required.  I’ve been doing this, courtesy of Clever Cook’s great tip in her Paleo e-book!.  I go through quite alot of psyllium, as I try and use less xanthan gum now.  Price-wise, there’s probably not a great deal in it, as I find I have to use more psyllium powder to xanthan gum ratio, but psyllium is a good binder and a more natural product that contains soluble fibre.  Xanthan is purely a binder/emulsifier/thickener, produced as a result of a chemical/fermentation process in a lab environment … If you have time, here’s a great video to watch about psyllium.
• If you need a yeast free version, substitute the yeast for 1.5 tsp each of bicarb of soda and citric acid.  No need to prove – just bake straight-away.  I have previously made a tweaked yeast-free version, but with baking powder.  However, I think the afore-mentioned combo works better.