Besan - Chickpea Flour

[Suvir Saran]

How do you use this flour?

Do you have favorite recipes that use it?

Where do you buy your flour?

Do you have a favorite brand for besan??

[Suvir Saran]

Besan is also called gram flour or chickpea flour. It is made from chickpeas and is used in many different ways in the Indian kitchen.

Indians buy split chickpeas or Bengal gram and take these to the mill to be ground into besan or gram flour.

It has a pale yellow color and is very gently coarse in texture. It has a very earthy scent and has a nutty taste to it. It also will adhere to your tongue with great weight if you taste some.

In some Indian homes besan is very lightly roasted and then stored in the refrigerator. Indians believe that doing so helps keep the besan fresher for longer periods of time.

Indian mothers make a creamy paste by adding milk into besan. This creamy paste is used as a scrub to cleanse infants and young children. It is very lightly abrasive and also a gently cleanser. In fact several women use a besan and milk paste as a face mask.

Besan is used in the preparation of the famous Pakoras (fritters) served in most all Indian restaurants. Many other snack like items are made using besan.

A popular dish in which besan is added to yogurt or even buttermilk is called Kadhi. It is prepared across India with slight variations.

[polly]

I use besan flour to make batters with, either a classic pakora batter or I add some besan to SR flour for a different texture and flavour.

Occasionally I make something that I don't know the name of ( Madhur Jaffrey just calls it 'besan'). It's like a soft set 'cake' of besan flour cooked with water and flavours.

I usually cut it into cubes when it's set and bake it in a hot oven ( or deep fry it) until it's crispy, to serve with spicy fried quail.

I don't have a favourite brand b/c often I get it in unmarked bags from the local Indian shop or health food store where they have obviously repackaged it from bulk.

I have read that you can use the flour to thicken yoghurt sauces but i've never tried this.

[Suvir Saran]

I saw this thread in the cooking forum. It has some great recipes and discussions.

With besan in the cooking forum

[Suvir Saran]

I use besan flour to make batters with, either a classic pakora batter or I add some besan to SR flour for a different texture and flavour.

Occasionally I make something that I don't know the name of ( Madhur Jaffrey just calls it 'besan'). It's like a soft set 'cake' of besan flour cooked with water and flavours.

I usually cut it into cubes when it's set and bake it in a hot oven ( or deep fry it) until it's crispy, to serve with spicy fried quail.

I don't have a favourite brand b/c often I get it in unmarked bags from the local Indian shop or health food store where they have obviously repackaged it from bulk.

I have read that you can use the flour to thicken yoghurt sauces but i've never tried this.

What you refer to from Madhurs books could either be Gatte or Dhoklas.. Both are delicious.. if you find the recipe.. maybe you want to share it with us.. we can help you identify what it is.

Besan is often used in Indian cooking as a thickener. But it is not always the best way to thicken sauces. One reason being that it has a strong flavor of its own and secondly that it is not the easiest to digest as a thickener.

[polly]

this is from Madhur Jaffrey's' world of the east vegetarian cooking':

2 1/2 C chickpea flour

3-4 cloves garlic, mashed

1/2 tsp grated ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp cayenne

1 medium onion

5 tbs veg oil

6 curry leaves

2 tsp salt

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs chopped coriander

1 green chilli, minced

1/4 C grated fresh coconut

Put flour in a bowl and slowly add 4 1/2 C water, stirring to brake up lumps.

Combine garlic, ginger, cumin, turmeric and cayenne in a small bowl with 1/4 C water. Set aside.

Finely slice the onions. Fry the curry leaves, add onions then spice mixture, cook couple of minutes.

Add the flour/water mix, bring to the boil, stirring all the time.

Lower the temperature and keep stirring vigorously until the mixture thickens and comes away from the sides of the pan, about 20 minutes. (bit like choux paste)

Season with salt and lemon.

Pour mixture into a cake tin and sprinkle the top with coriander, green chilli and coconut.

Allow to set.

[Suzanne F]

I have used it as is to coat (already cooked) mussels for deep-frying. It made a light, tasty, crunchy shell -- different and more interesting than regular AP wheat flour.