Hi Ladies,
I'm making some yummy chicken curry for dinner (sans rice) and realized it calls for 2 TBS of flour to thicken the sauce. It makes four servings. Would that much throw me off during phase one? Is there anything else "SB legal" I could use to thicken it?
TIA

Hmm, no one out there tonight? I ended up using a tablespoon of flaxseed meal and that worked out ok.
I just realized though that flaxseeds counts towards our daily allowance of nuts, doesn't it? That means I had two in the same day. D'oh, just when I was doing so well.

Hi!
Sorry I didn't make it to you in time.
Ground flaxmeal is actually a great choice as a substitute. I'm proud of you for not choosing the flour!
It depends on what I'm making, what I'll use. Today I made up a recipe for Red enchilada sauce, and used 2 pureed onions. Purreed veggies are good. Many times I'll use cream as my sauce base, and that thickens so nicely.
How did you make your chicken curry? I do a lot of googling and reading different recipes for a desired dish...and if I can't find exactly what I'm looking for, I use the basic common threads of the different recipes, throw out any no-no's, include any nice touches, and wing it from there. I usually enjoy great success. Today's red enchilada sauce was AMAZING!

Thanks for the response. Better late than never. I used a recipe for curried lamb out of my old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I sauteed the chicken, curry powder, minced garlic and onions in a tablespoon of EVOO. I used minced, dried onions as I'm not big on the texture. I add a bouillon cube and 3/4 cup of water and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes.
I've been purreeing different veggies and adding them to my food. This morning it was cauliflower in my eggs. I thought of adding some purree but wasn't sure how it would turn out.
Thanks for the info.

Hi - Just for future reference, there are two products you can buy to thicken sauces. I get mine through Netrition (online store, which is great - flat rate shipping, no tax, really fast delivery ***I sound like a commercial*****) You can get there from here: www.Netrition.com. At any rate, one is ThickenThin, which I have used many times and it works wonders - just be careful though as a tiny bit goes a long way (something like a teaspoon per cup of liquid). Anyway, here is the description ...

ThickenThin not/Starch Thickener
ThickenThin not/Starch thickener is the perfect thickener for lowcarb or grain-free diets. It recreates the thick rich textures you want without adding calories, fat, or carbohydrates. It even gives you fiber, all of it the soluble fiber that is so hard to get on a restricted diet. (Note: we follow US nutrition label law which requires reporting 4 calories per gram from soluble fiber, even though the human body cannot digest it.)

The other one that I have heard of people using (and I actually have in my pantry, but have yet to use), is Xanthan Gum. Here is the description.

Xanthan Gum Powder

Xanthan Gum is produced by the pure culture fermentation of the microorganism Xanthomonas Campestris to yield a type of gel fiber similar to guar gum. It is commonly used in thickening food products.

I hope this helps! Jill

I'm glad that you got good answers to your question.
While you did great using the flax meal as a sub....there are other flours out now that you can also use ie: chick pea flour. I saw it recently at my health food store.

I like the idea of using pureed veggies to add in also. When you get to phase II, pureed parnsips are lovely as a thickener with a good flavor. As is rutabaga....hard to cut but when its cooked and pureed, its very good.

intereseting thread. Good stuff to stow away for future refernce.....

Arrowroot is another thickening agent that is SB friendly for all phases, although I have trouble getting it to work properly and it's not always easy to find.

I tried the Xanthan Gum Powder and I felt that it was better for thickening cold foods. I really didn't care for the mouth feel it gave to hot foods.