By Alison Rose Munn
“I don’t believe you’re from California. You just made hush puppies. That’s a Southern tradition,” one of my coworkers said when I ought my latest gluten free experiment into the green room. I was nervous as I had never tasted a hush puppy until I made this gluten free batch and had no way of knowing if they tasted like the real thing.
My latest gig had taken me down to the border of Georgia and Alabama. There I found I was unable to enjoy many of the tradition foods of the regions, the foods everyone said I must try. Of all the different dishes, hush puppies was one that time and again I heard locals call their favorite. It is so popular that at the closet grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly, I found there to be half an aisle devoted to corn meal and hush puppy mixes. Though a relatively simple dish – and really just an appetizer – I decided I need to try it.
When I presented my gluten free version to our cast and crew they were gobbled up. And I was told by one technician, “I am a hush puppy junky and these are some of the best I’ve ever had.”
NOTE: If you can, use a rice flour based gluten free flour. For this recipe, I used Pillsbury’s GF mix, as that was the only gluten free flour I found at the grocery store. To give you an idea of what ingredients to look for, this mix included rice flour, potato flour, pea fiber, tapioca starch, and xantham gum.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups GF cornmeal
- 1 1/2 cups GF flour
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 tsp GF baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour blend includes it)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 2-4 quarts vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS
- Mix together the dry ingredients.
- Chop the onion and garlic.
- Beat the egg in a separate bowl, add the onion, garlic, and milk. Mix.
- Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is blended. It may be lumpy.
- Heat the oil in a tall cooking pot. (The taller the better to avoid splashing.) When the oil starts to bubble, turn heat down to medium.
- Line a baking sheet with paper towels and set aside.
- Using your hands, form the batter into 1-2 inch balls. (I made approximate 10 at a time and then made more as a batch was frying.)
- Carefully drop the balls into the heated oil and fry for two minutes. Turn the balls over and continue to fry until they are a deep golden own color, about 2-4 minutes.
- Remove and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Serve warm.
Makes apx. 40 hush puppies.
