Garbanzo Bean Flour Tortillas {Vegan, Gluten & Dairy Free}

This afternoon, as I sat in the sun on my balcony, reading out of 1 Kings 17:8  about the Widow at Zarapeth I had to stave off hunger at the mentioning of bread.

Basically Elijah visited a village named Zaraphath and met a widow that God had instructed to feed him while he was there. 

"He asked her for some water and then some bread. She responded, "I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.

But Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you've said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what's left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!".

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah."

And while this story encouraged me to trust in my God for His provision, it also made me really miss the taste of bread and flour...

Yummmmmm...

And then I remembered the conversation I had with my good friend Rachel this last week about how she taught herself to make tortillas while she was living in Russia as a missionary (because somehow Mexican food hasn't made its way over there yet. What? No Mexican food? ... I just don't understand how people can live without Mexican food.)

Anyways, it has been forever since I had my last tortilla. 

So, thanks to Elijah and my friend Rachel for inspiring me to try making my own gluten free tortillas.

It all started with an unopened bag of garbanzo bean flour that had been sitting in my cupboard for at least a year. 

I ordered it from vitacost.com which is this wonderful website that sells discounted health food products (and they ship internationally).

I admit that I was hoarding it because ordering internationally is expensive and inconvenient.

And that's just the sort of thing you do when you live overseas. 
Every time I get a bag of chocolate chips or BBQ sauce sent over from the USA I end up hoarding it. And I hold onto it as if it were the last precious thing in the world. 

But the other day, as I was picking up some rice flour at Ekoplaza in Haarlem I saw kikkerwertenbloem and was able to recognize kikkerwerten means garbanzo bean... So they have garbanzo bean flour here too! 
Yay, no need to hoard!

Just a funny little note: kikker also means frog in Dutch. So I now think of garbanzo beans as frog beans instead of chick peas.

This afternoon I spent about 2 hours making tortillas. And to my surprise they were effortlessly delicious!
I kept eating them as I was cooking.
And then Jens was like "what are you cooking? It smells good" and I made him aware of how yummy these things are. 

So before I knew it I had to mix up another batch.

Also, here are some great facts about garbanzo bean flour: Facts about garbanzo bean flour
I guess it's full of protein, fiber and iron. 

(Here's the mess you've been waiting for)

Ingredients for Garbanzo Bean Tortillas:

1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cumin (optional)
1 tsp olive oil 
1 tsp oregano (optional)

1 cup of water

Vegan egg:

2 tbsp ground flax seeds
2 tbsp warm water
 {I had to grind the flax seeds since I only had whole)

Makes about 5-6 tortillas.

You will also need a greased non-stick pan and a flat bottom wooded spoon. 

Cooking Instructions: 

                                                          

Mix together the 'vegan egg' ingredients and let them sit for about 3-4 minutes to let it thicken.

Separately mix the garbanzo bean flour, olive oil, salt, cumin, oregano and water together with a whisk (until the clumps are gone).

The consistency will look like waffle batter. If you find it to be too sticky add about 2/3 cup more water. If it is too sticky it will be hard to spread out over the pan but make sure it isnt too watery either.

Now add the 'vegan egg' mixture.

Preheat frying pan on low heat. I have a gas stove top so my 'low heat' is more like medium heat.

Pour about 1 cup of the batter into a 28 cm frying pan and spread it out over the pan in circular motion with a flat bottom wooden spoon. 

Allow it to cook on low heat for 2 minutes and then turn over. 

It is ready to be turned over when it easily rises off of the pan.

After turning over, let it cook for 1 minute. 
It should have light brown spots like this:

These little tortillas are so delicious and nutritious!

High in protein, fiber and iron.

Now I just don't know what to make for dinner.

Enchiladas, soft tacos or falafel... Hmmm... Decisions. Decisions...