I decided to share my Jamaican Festival Dumplings (Vegan, Gluten-Free) recipe for those people like myself who cannot handle gluten and are also vegan. This recipe is similar to hush puppies recipes, it is made with cornmeal and gluten-free flour mix, sweetener and then it is fried in oil. It is traditionally served with fish but I served mine with Scrambled Tofu and Southern-Style Collard Greens.
It is normally deep fried but can be lightly fried to cut back on the amount of oil used. It is easy to prepare and tastes delicious! They are crispy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside, they make the perfect side dish.
For the gluten-free flour, I used Bob’s Red Mills Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour with great success.
My hubby loved these festivals so much he couldn’t stop complimenting me how great they were, I believe that it brought back memories of Jamaica as well for him. I hope that you will try this recipe and that it will become part of your family as well. Bon Appetit!
Categories
- Categories: Gluten-Free, Vegan
- Course: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Jamaican
Nutrition
(Per 100g)- Energy: 135 kcal / 564 kJ
- Fat: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Carbs: 27 g
Cook Time
- Preparation: 5 min
- Cooking: 10 min
- Ready in: 15 min
- For: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup all purpose gluten-free flour
- 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar, or sweetener of your choice
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground flax seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water, (cold)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- oil, for frying
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, flaxseeds, and salt.
- Mix in water and vanilla until fully combined. Knead and form into a dough ball.
- Separate dough into equal pieces, about 6-12 depending on size. Shape each piece into sausage shape by rolling between the palm of your hands and flatten slightly.
- Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place dough into the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes on one side, reduce heat and flip the dough on the other side for another 3 minutes. Fry dough until golden brown on all sides.
- Remove and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Serve immediately!
Notes
Hi Michelle, thank you for your delicious recipe. I’ve been searching for gluten free Jamaican fried dumpling and festival recipes. They came out so well. I doubled the recipe to make them bigger. And I’ll add more sugar next time. They are delicious and moist. And cooks in less time that transitional festivals would. This means we eat sooner and I’m not exhausted.
My daughter has been vegan for about four years now. So, I’m always revamping our traditional recipes so we can still enjoy our favorite foods. I can’t wait to make gluten-free fried dumplings. Whohooo!! Great job Michelle!!!!🤗💕🤗💕🥇
That’s awesome Suzette to read. I’m going to add my gluten-free fried dumpling as well. I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you very much for your feedback.
By the way, I’m open to creating other gluten-free recipes, so just ask me in the comments.
Hubby made these, they were delish. Something new for me to try, he used almond flour and cut recipe in half so made about 6. Going to make some patty’s now.
Chris, I’m so happy you enjoyed them. I hope you enjoyed the patties.
Do you know if the traditional recipe would contain dairy or egg? I always see these when I visit Jamaica but am unsure if they’re vegan friendly.
Rachel it depends on the cook, so next time ask them if they used milk and what kind, if they added butter to the dough. The recipes varies.
Thank you so much for this, I haven’t tried it yet but I know this will be great! I am gluten intolerant for 20 years and I miss so many Jamaican foods I grew up with!!
Deborah, I hope you enjoy it. I’m so happy you found my website.
Thank you fir the recipe I’m also familiar with those recipe. I’m from Grenada.
Erma, welcome to my website, I have lots of close friends from your homeland, our foods are so similar. I hope you enjoy.
Great recipe. I made it with both Pamelas products baking mix, and King Arthur’s baking mix. I used less sugar, to make it more fried dumpling instead of festival…My family loved it. Anytime I make it I do a double batch. Thank you for the recipe!
Glad it turned out great, thank you for sharing your adjustments.
1/2 and 1/2 of each?
Have you triode making festivals with almond or coconut flour?
No I haven’t but it should work.
Oohh yes festival, can’t wait to try
I assume these would also bake up well. Do you have any suggestions for baking the festivals? I would love to surprise my husband with them as a memory of our vacation there last year.
Sounds like a lovely idea, the only thing is I didn’t get to try them in an oven because my oven broke. I’m still waiting for the technician to fix it, thinking of getting a countertop convection oven in the meantime. Lightly frying in a ceramic pan and covering with a lid midway to make sure the middle is done, then remove the cover to brown the outside. I will do a live video soon to show how I fry with very little oil.
These look delish. Can they be shaped in a pancake shape or is it best in a sausage like you suggest?