Normally, most recipes that you see will call for wheat flour. However, there are other versatile types of flour that you can opt for, such as sorghum flour.
If you have never heard of sorghum flour before, you may be curious as to what sorghum flour is and how you can use it. I looked up the facts, and here is what I discovered!
What Is Sorghum Flour?
Sorghum flour is created from ground sorghum and sorghum is a gluten-free cereal grain. Normally, sorghum flour is usually used in India to make flatbread recipes like roti, and sorghum flour is called jowar flour in India. However, many recipes include sorghum flour to make gluten-free baked goods but often in tandem with other types of flour.
Do you want to learn what sorghum flour tastes like, if sorghum flour can replace all-purpose flour, and more? Keep reading!
What Is Sorghum Flour Made Of?
Sorghum flour is made from finely ground sorghum kernels, which is a cereal grain that has been used for over 5000 years. Normally, the sorghum kernels are whole grain sorghum kernels.
What Are The Other Names Of Sorghum Flour?
Generally, the other commonly used name for sorghum flour is jowar flour and jowar flour is a term often used in India.
What Does Sorghum Flour Taste Like?
Normally, sorghum flour tastes earthy but mild, but the sorghum flour’s flavor may be unnoticeable in certain recipes. Moreover, some people say that sorghum tastes like wheat berries.
What Is Sorghum Flour Used For?
Typically, sorghum flour is used to create recipes that require low gluten flour. That is why sorghum flour is popular in India to create flatbread.
However, sorghum flour is now popularly used to create gluten-free recipes, especially baking recipes. Sorghum flour is said to taste a bit like regular wheat flour, which makes sorghum flour great for an “authentic” taste.
Despite being good to make gluten-free baked goods, sorghum flour sometimes cannot stand alone in recipes. Generally, people like to mix sorghum flour with other types of flour and ingredients to offer the recipes more flavor, structure, and rise.
For instance, most sorghum flour-based recipes will require a binding ingredient. Xantham gum is often added because xanthan gum can help bind the ingredients well.
Is Sorghum Flour Similar To Wheat Flour?
Sorghum flour is somewhat similar to wheat flour because sorghum flour tastes a bit like wheat berries. Moreover, sorghum flour can replace wheat flour in some recipes but you may have to use sorghum flour in tandem with other types of flour.
Can Sorghum Flour Replace All-Purpose Flour?
Generally, you can use sorghum flour to replace all-purpose flour in most recipes. However, you may want to mix your sorghum flour with starches like xanthan gum to bind your recipe better.
Is Sorghum Flour The Same As Millet Flour?
Millet flour and sorghum flour are not the same types of flour. While they are both made from cereal grains, they are made from different variants of cereal grains that gives each of these flours different properties.
However, sorghum flour and millet flour are both gluten-free. Therefore, some people can use them interchangeably or use them together in various recipes for gluten-free recipes.
Does Sorghum Flour Have Gluten?
Sorghum flour does not contain gluten because sorghum flour is made from cereal grain, not wheat. Therefore, sorghum is safe for people who are allergic or sensitive to gluten to eat.
Can I Bake Bread With Sorghum Flour?
It is possible to bake bread with sorghum flour, but you will need to make some adjustments. Sorghum flour does not contain the same properties as typical flours used for bread, so you need to make some tweaks to make the sorghum flour work.
Firstly, sorghum flour does not have any gluten, which means that there will be no binding properties. Therefore, you can add a binding ingredient, which is normally starch like xanthan gum.
If you are baking bread, you can usually add one teaspoon of xanthan gum to every cup of sorghum flour used for the recipe. You may also opt for other binding ingredients, such as egg whites, guar gum, cornstarch, and unflavored gelatin.
Can You Make Porridge With Sorghum Flour?
Generally, you cannot make porridge with sorghum flour. Sorghum flour is too finely ground to create porridge, so you need to get whole sorghum grains to create a porridge.
Is Sorghum Flour Keto-Friendly?
Normally, sorghum flour is not keto-friendly because sorghum flour is high in carbohydrates. A small serving of sorghum flour can keep you from reaching ketosis.
What Can I Substitute For Sorghum Flour?
If you want a gluten-free alternative to sorghum flour, buckwheat flour will be one of your best bets. Despite having “wheat” in the name, buckwheat flour is completely gluten-free because buckwheat is a pseudo-grain.
Buckwheat flour has a similar taste and texture to sorghum flour. Therefore, you can use buckwheat flour in an equal ratio to sorghum flour.
Another good replacement for sorghum flour is amaranth flour that you can use in a 1:1 ratio to sorghum flour. Similar to buckwheat flour, amaranth flour is made from pseudo-grains, making amaranth flour gluten-free.
If you need to use sorghum flour as a thickening agent, you can opt for cornstarch instead. Cornstarch can be used in an equal ratio to sorghum flour, but you will want to mix cornstarch with water before adding the cornstarch to your recipe.
To discover maida flour substitutes, what semolina flour is, and what sweet rice flour is, take a look at our other articles.
Conclusion
Sorghum flour is a cereal grain flour made from sorghum. Typically, sorghum flour is used in India to create flatbreads, and most people in India call sorghum flour “jowar flour.”
While normally used to create flatbread, sorghum flour is often used to make gluten-free recipes. However, other types of flour and starches usually need to be added to ensure the ingredients bind well.