Arrowroot flour
Best used as a thickener in sauces, arrowroot flour originates from the West Indies. Good substitute for corn starch.
Bean flours
Best used in small doses, bean flour includes chickpeas, lentil and garbanzo bean flours.
Corn flour
Great in corn bread, or if you’re ambitious, corn tortillas, this flour is made from dried corn kernels soaked in lime water.
Guar gum
Works like gluten as a binder in small doses, guar gum is found in many processed foods like pudding and ice cream. Guar gum comes from India as a seed off guar plants.
Potato starch
White Potatoes are useful for many applications. Their starchiness makes them fantastic when mashed. Potato starch will not substitute directly for wheat. It needs to be combined with other flours and starches for best results. Potato starch is a great alternative for corn starch if you have issues with corn. (Do not confuse potato starch with potato flour, which is dried potatoes ground into a flour. Potato flour has the taste of potatoes where potato starch does not.)
Rice flours
Great when used for thickening sauces and gravies, there are two types of rice flours:
Brown rice flour – Rice with husk removed is ground; typically, the short-grain rice is used for its starchy qualities.
White rice flour – Ground rice after the husk, germ and brain have been removed.
Sorghum flour
Grain sorghums are grown especially for their rounded, starchy seeds. In Africa, India, and China, the grain is ground into flour to make pancakes or mush. In America, white food grade sorghum is used to make gluten-free flour for use in a variety of baked goods.
Tapioca flour
Best when used with other flours for baked goods, tapioca flour comes from the Asian Cassava plant.
Xanthan gum
Great when used to bind dough for bread, xantham gum is found in frozen foods as a stabilizer. A small amount is all you need (¼ teaspoon).