What Is Besan and How Can I Use It?

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.

Recipes using besan

There are 6 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Besan Burfi

Besan burfi, a traditional Indian fudge of chickpea flour slow-toasted in ghee with cardamom and sugar. A four-ingredient festival sweet cut into diamond pieces.

Boondhi Raita

Boondhi raita with golden chickpea-flour pearls soaked into thinned yogurt and seasoned with chaat masala. The cool, tangy Indian side that calms a fiery curry in one spoonful.

Pakoras

Indian pakoras made with chickpea flour batter spiced with garam masala, coriander, and turmeric. Dip eggplant, potato, pepper, mushroom, or onion and fry until crisp. The chaiwala classic at home.

Egg Cooked with Meat & Fried (Nargisi Kofta)

Nargisi kofta wraps spiced ground beef and besan around hard boiled eggs, fries them golden, then simmers in a tomato-yogurt curry. Mughlai showstopper named for the narcissus flower.

Besan Kofta Curry

Punjabi besan kofta curry with crispy chickpea flour dumplings stuffed with dried plums, simmered in a rich tomato-onion gravy with garam masala and ghee. A show-stopping vegetarian main dish from North Indian kitchens.

Pakoras (Savory Fritters)

Pakoras: crisp Indian fritters of onion, potato, and spinach dipped in spiced chickpea-flour batter and deep-fried to golden crunch. Monsoon-season street food at its finest.

All 6 recipes