Here's everything worth knowing about besan and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 6 recipes to cook tonight.

What is besan?

Besan is flour milled from dried chickpeas. You will also see it sold as gram flour or chickpea flour, and for cooking purposes the three names mean the same thing. It is a staple in Indian and Pakistani kitchens.

One point worth clearing up. Traditional Indian besan is ground from a smaller split chickpea called the brown chana or Bengal gram, so it is finer and a touch sweeter than Western chickpea flour milled from the large white garbanzo.

The two are interchangeable in almost every recipe, with only a slight difference in texture.

Raw besan tastes faintly bitter and beany. Toast it in a dry pan and that turns nutty and warm, which is why so many recipes start by roasting it.

Cooking With Besan

Its most famous job is batter. Whisked with water and spices, it coats sliced onions, potatoes, and spinach for deep-fried Pakoras, and the same batter fries into the little dropped pearls in Boondhi Raita.

Besan is also a binder and a thickener. It holds the spiced dumplings together in Besan Kofta Curry and replaces breadcrumbs or egg in vegetable patties. Cooked slowly with ghee and sugar, it sets into fudge-like sweets such as Besan Burfi.

Because it carries no gluten, besan behaves differently from wheat flour. It will not build an elastic dough or trap gas to rise, so it suits batters and thickening rather than yeasted bread.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Besan loves warm spices. Cumin, turmeric, ajwain, chili, and fresh coriander all belong with it, and a pinch of ajwain in particular tames its heaviness in fried foods.

The biggest mistake is lumps. Besan clumps the instant it hits water, so add the liquid gradually while whisking, or sift the flour first. A batter left to rest 15 to 20 minutes hydrates fully and fries crisper.

The second mistake is skipping the toast. Raw besan tastes bitter and chalky in anything uncooked, so for dressings or quick sauces, dry-roast it over medium heat for a few minutes until it smells nutty and turns one shade darker.

Watch the heat when toasting. Besan scorches fast and turns acrid, so keep it moving in the pan and pull it the moment the aroma changes.

Substitutes

There is no clean swap, because besan's nutty flavor and gluten-free binding are hard to copy. The closest is any other legume flour, such as yellow split pea or lentil flour, which behave almost identically.

For thickening or binding only, fine cornmeal or rice flour will work, as will all-purpose flour, though all-purpose adds gluten and a blander taste. In a batter, rice flour actually fries up extra crisp.

If a recipe needs besan for structure in a sweet, there is no real substitute. Buy it instead, since it keeps for months and any Indian grocery carries it cheaply.

Buying and Storing Besan

Look for besan in the flour aisle, in Indian and Middle Eastern groceries, and increasingly in the gluten-free section. It is usually pale yellow and very fine.

Some brands label it gram flour or chickpea flour, so do not be thrown by the different names on the same shelf.

Because it is higher in fat than wheat flour, besan goes rancid faster. Store it in an airtight container somewhere cool and dark, and it keeps about six months in the pantry.

For longer storage, the refrigerator or freezer pushes that to a year and keeps the oils from turning. Give it a sniff before using an old bag. Fresh besan smells faintly sweet and beany, while rancid besan smells sharp and paint-like, and there is no saving it once it turns.

Buy what you will use in a few months rather than a giant sack, unless you cook with it often.

Quick facts

In Chinese

贝桑松

British (UK) term

Besan

en français

besan

en español

besan

Recipes using besan

There are 6 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 6 recipes