Rice Flour / चावल आटा: Recipes and Uses

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Rice flour is made from milled rice by steeping it in lye. You can make it either from white rice or even brown rice.

Rice Flour Recipes contain snacks as well as main course dishes. On the contrary, there are desserts made using rice flour as the main ingredient.

Since rice flour is an integral part of a recipe, the quality must be top-notch. Now you can either use readymade rice flour available in grocery stores or make it at home. I prefer the latter one.

The bottom line is we need good quality rice flour. Hence, let’s start preparing rice flour first & then compile rice flour recipes out of it. Here we go.

How to Make Rice Flour at Home?

To make rice flour all by yourself, we need to follow some basic steps. Here they are.

Wash, Rinse & Soak

Wash & rinse the rice a couple of times. After that, soak for 2-3 hours in normal water. By normal water, I mean drinking water. Don’t use cold or hot water. Using them will alter the final texture of your rice flour.

We all know that soaking makes rice soft. Moreover, it helps us grind them into a fine powder with minimal grit.

Dry Soaked Rice

After washing, rinsing & soaking rice, it’s time to dry them. Use a kitchen cloth or napkin. Spread wet rice grains on it & allow them to completely dry. Make sure there’s no moisture left in the grains. Remember, do not dry your wet rice grains under the sun. The sun heat is harsh & it will roast the grains.

Grind the Grains

Grind your dry rice grains. There’s no need to use fancy grinders. The mixer grinder that you use daily is more than enough. Now the problem is not the mixer grinder. The issue is how long we need to grind. Short answer – till you get fine powder consistency.

Ordinary kitchen mixer grinders aren’t capable of grinding rice grains into fine powder in one shot. So instead, what you need to do is check the consistency after every 30-40 seconds. At this point, your rice flour is almost ready.

Sieve & Sift

Grinding rice grains into a powder doesn’t mean it’s over. We are still halfway. Take a clean bowl or container & place a sieve on top. Now add rice flour & sift it. Repeat the step for every batch of rice flour. What you get in the bowl or container is the rice flour.

While sieving the flour, you will see small granules. Collect them, grind & sieve them again. Repeat till you don’t see granules anymore.

Consistency & Texture

Now check the consistency & texture of the flour. The texture will be white or pale white depending on the quality & colour of the rice. For instance, if you grind brown rice, the flour will be wheatish.

At the same time, the consistency of your rice flour is subjective. For example, some of you might want it like all-purpose flour. Meanwhile, some would require it to be like wheat flour.

Storing the Rice Flour

Moisture is a big problem here. It will alter the taste & texture of the flour over time. Therefore, use an airtight container for storage. Keep away from direct heat & harsh light.

Tips to Make Moisture Free Rice Flour

• Don’t soak rice grains overnight. Just 3-4 hours is enough.
• Avoid drying wet rice grains in intense heat—for example, sun rays.
• Grind rice grain as per required consistency—for instance, grainy, free flow of fine powder.
• If rice flour contains moisture, then spread it on a cloth & allow it to dry.
• Use airtight containers to store rice flour.

Commonly Known As

Nutritional Profile of Rice Flour

Nutritional profile per 100 gms

• Calories: 366
• Protein: 6g
• Carbohydrate: 80g
• Fiber: 2.4g
• Fat: 1.4g
• Potassium: 76mg

Source: USDA & Google

Culinary Uses of Rice Flour in Recipes

Rice flour is a dry ingredient. There are a variety of culinary methods to use rice flour. For example, you can make rice noodles or pancakes. Surprisingly, it acts as a natural thickener to thicken soups & stews. Moreover, it is also an excellent alternative to wheat flour in cakes & biscuits.

It is essential to realise that rice flour is gluten-free. What does that mean? It means you can’t use rice flour to bake loaves of bread containing yeast.

First, let us look at the benefits of rice flour.

• Gluten-free – Rice flour is gluten-free. Gluten causes celiac disease. So this can be a fantastic alternative for people allergic to wheat/gluten.
• Maintain liver function – It contains choline that helps the liver function well and transports cholesterol from the liver to all over the body.
• High in fibre – People with constipation problems can eat rice flour, predominantly brown rice flour. Fibre foods help eliminate waste and lower cholesterol levels. Moreover, it reduces the risk of chronic diseases like colon cancer, type-2 diabetes, and hypertension.

Okay, now, what I said above are the culinary usage of rice flour. First, let’s discuss the rice flour batter.

Rice Flour Batter

There are various thoughts regarding rice flour. Using plain rice flour, we can make a batter. On the other hand, different rice flour recipes demand varied types of batter consistency.

Runny Rice Flour Batter

This particular batter contains more water than the standard measurement. In short, it’s watery, free-flowing and has a semi-liquid texture. Ideally, this type of runny batter is for South Indian rice dosa.

Rice Flour Dough

Here the water content is under control. The only purpose of adding water is to combine other ingredients & knead them. Now there are several reasons why we make rice flour dough.

First, to make chapatis. These chapatis are a staple diet of the South Indian regions. Roast them & eat with a vegetable curry of your choice.

Second, roll chapatis out of rice flour dough & use the same as an outer coating. For instance, you can make a samosa cover with rice flour dough. Further, fill boiled & mashed aloo masala. Your rice samosa is ready to fry.

Using rice flour dough is subjective. It entirely depends upon the recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recipes With Rice Flour / चावल आटा as Ingredient