B – ‘Besan’

The abc of Food Cooking and People

Besan

🌾 Besan – India’s Golden Flour

Besan, the delicate yellow flour made from chickpeas. It’s been a staple in Indian kitchens for centuries and is key in daily cooking across South Asia. Known for its earthy flavour and versatility, besan is used in everything from savoury snacks to soups, sweets, and street food favourites.

Also called gram flour, besan is made by grinding dried chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) into a smooth, pale powder. It’s naturally gluten-free and packed with plant-based protein, making it an essential ingredient for many vegetarian and vegan dishes. Whether you’re thickening a curry, frying up pakoras, or mixing batter for pancakes and breads, besan is likely the magic behind it. (https://kookssecrets.com/2024/03/05/almond-fruit/).

🥄 A Flour with Many Names

In India and surrounding regions, besan is everywhere. Depending on the local variety of chickpeas used, you’ll find it labelled as gram flour, chana flour, or even Bengal gram flour. It’s not the same as chickpea flour in some Western shops, which can be made from white or garbanzo chickpeas and have a different texture. Besan is typically finer and slightly more bitter—perfect for cooking when you want body and flavour.

It’s used to make chilla (Indian savoury pancakes), kadhi (a tangy yoghurt-based soup), and batter for pakoras (deep-fried veggie fritters). It also stars in Indian sweets like laddoos and burfi, where it’s toasted in ghee until fragrant and nutty.

🌍 Did You Know?

Besan has been used in Indian households for thousands of years—not just in food, but also in skincare, as a natural exfoliant.

It’s high in protein and fibre, making it popular in vegetarian cooking.

Unlike wheat flour, besan is gluten-free, so it suits people with coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity.

In Indian weddings and rituals, besan paste is sometimes applied to the skin as a traditional beauty treatment.

🍛 From Soups to Sweets

What makes besan truly special is its range. It can thicken soups without adding cream, coat vegetables for frying, or bind ingredients in meatless patties. A small amount of besan is highly beneficial as it rapidly absorbs water and creates smooth, clinging batters when combined with a small amount of spice and salt. In Indian cooking, it brings texture, structure, and a toasty, savoury note that no other flour quite matches.

Beyond India, besan is also popular in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In Italy and France, a version of chickpea flour is used to make dishes like socca or farinata, but besan’s unique fineness and cooking properties make it distinct in both taste and technique.

✨ In Summary

Thank you for learning more about Besan—India’s golden flour. This simple ingredient carries centuries of flavour and function, from crispy pakoras to smooth soups and sweet laddoos. Please keep a bag of besan in your pantry—it’s not just flour, it’s tradition in a scoop. Whether cooking, baking, or even blending it into a beauty ritual, besan is a little bag of possibility.