Besan Chilla - Chickpea Flour Pancake
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Besan Chilla recipe
Besan Chilla a savoury pancake made with a batter of besan/gram flour, chopped veggies and Indian spices. It’s crispy, warm and delicious! It’s quite easy to make too, so if you’re hungry, you can make it in no time!
I recommend this recipe for a fantastic brunch or dinner. It’s healthy, filling, and will warm you up!
I hadn’t made this recipe in years, but it was about time to finally share it! To get the full picture of how to make Besan Chilla, make sure to watch the video at the bottom of this post! Also, if you’re not already subscribed to my YouTube channel, please do so and hit the bell icon so you receive the notifications when all my recipe videos go live! Let’s get cooking!
What is besan?
Besan is also known as gram flour, and in English it is translated to chickpea flour. However, besan is actually different from typical chickpea flour!
Besan/gram flour is made from brown chickpeas, known as kabuli chana. On other hand, in the West, chickpea flour/garbanzo flour is made from the white chickpeas you may be more familiar with. Besan is a finer type of flour and white chickpea flour is coarse. I wouldn’t recommend substituting besan with chickpea flour because the ratios of water to flour won’t be the same as if you were to use besan, as I will be using here. Furthermore, you’ll have a different taste than the besan, so I recommend you find besan! If you do try to substitute with white chickpea flour, let me know how that tastes and if you actually could substitute! However, do keep in mind difference in texture and flavour. For best results, I recommend you find besan/gram flour on Amazon or from your local South Asian grocer.
What is Chilla?
Chilla simply refers to an Indian crepes, and they can be savoury or sweet. There are many different flours or grains that can be used for the chilla batter. Here are some examples:
Sooji chilla: Made with semolina/rava
Moong dal chilla: Made with green moong dal
Oats chilla: Made with oat flour
Rice chilla: Made with rice flour
Let me know in the comments what type of chilla you’d like to see me make! I’ve honestly never tried any of these variations, but I would love to!
In my family, we actually referred to Besan Chilla as Besan ka Papada. I actually didn’t know this was called a chilla until someone on Instagram informed me that that is the proper name! If you Google Besan ka Papada, you won’t actually see recipes like this, but something else. Now I know, but because it was a family thing, I’ll keep referring to this besan crepe as Besan ka Papada!
Why Make Besan Chilla?
Why wouldn’t you want to make these! Besan Chilla is a perfect breakfast or brunch (or even dinner!) for so many reasons:
Simple and quick to make
Low in calories and filling
Can be vegan
Lightly spiced
Filled with veggies
Crispy and delicious!
Is Besan Chilla healthy?
Yes, it certainly is! For instance, you can add many more veggies if you’d like. I kept mine simple with only onions and green chillies because that’s the way we always had it at home and that’s the. wayI enjoy it. However, you can add a variety of veggies into your chilla, including:
Tomatoes
Pumpkin
Zucchini
Eggplant
Carrots
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Potato
So if you’re looking for a veggie-packed recipe, then you can mix and match your favourite veggies and add as many as your heart desires!
Furthermore, the besan itself is loaded with health benefits. Here are some examples:
Protein-packed: One cup of besan contains 20 grams of protein.
Loaded with fibre: There are 10 grams of fibre per cup.
Contains essential minerals: These include thiamine, folate, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, copper and manganese.
Folate is is the most prominent mineral in besan, with over one hundred percent of the daily recommended value (RDI). The high protein and fibre content make besan more filling than both regular flour and whole wheat flour, since this combination increases satiety. Additionally, besan contains less calories overall than wheat flour, and will not spike your blood sugar since it is low on the Glycemic Index (GI). As a result, pancakes made with besan flour, especially combined with vegetables, can assist in weight loss since it is low in calories and loaded with nutrients.
For more details about all the health benefits of besan, check out the article by Healthline.
Can I make Besan Chilla ahead of time?
I wouldn’t recommend you make the actual pancake itself ahead of time since you’ll love the crispiness, which is a significant characteristic of Besan Chilla. However, you certainly can make the batter ahead of time. Because there are no eggs or milk in the batter, you can keep it for quite awhile. I would say to keep the batter for at most three or four days, since the batter may split.
How to make Besan Chilla vegan?
The only dairy item that is used in this Besan Chilla recipe is the ghee that’s used for coking our chickpea pancakes and for topping. I’ve cooked besan chilla with olive oil and mustard oil before, but I’ve found that ghee makes the pancake the most flavourful. If you are vegan, then I certainly recommend that you use olive oil, mustard oil, or even coconut oil.
How thick should my batter be?
The batter should be like a pancake batter or gravy. It should coat the back of the spoon but not be thick like a brownie batter, but you don’t want it too thin and watery.
How to Prevent the pancakes from sticking?
The simplest tip - a great pan will do most of the job for you. Look for a great non-stick pan and stay away from ceramic and stainless steel pan while preparing this recipe. With a great pan, using any oil will be optional.
Also make sure the pan is actually hot before adding in the batter. With a hot pan, an initial crust will be created instantly between the pan and the pancake. If the pan is not hot enough, the pancake may be tricky.
additional tips to make amazing chickpea pancakes
The best part of this batter is its super versatile. You can use all kinds of vegetables, (except root vegetables) and make this extremely healthy.
By adding some additional besan to thicken the consistency, you can use it to make my pakoras, I have so many recipes!
Use a thin, low-profile spatula to handle the pancake in the pan. I would highly recommend a good quality fish spatula due to its sleek low-profile.
The consistency of the batter is important to create a think crispy texture. Ensure that the batter is thin but not watery thin. I always recommend making a tester and make mistakes before going forward.
I recommend you serve these immediately for the ultimate crispiness and deliciousness!
Ingredients for Besan Chilla
Time to review the ingredients we’ll need for our Besan Chilla! All the magic will come from our batter! As mentioned earlier, I’m keeping the filling simple, but you could throw in veggies of your choice if you want!
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD to save this post for later and to see
Gram flour or Besan
Water
Red chilli powder, or Kashmiri Mirch
Red onion, chopped
Ginger, grated
Green chilies
Ghee: Store-bought or homemade!
How to Make Besan Chilla
Mix all ingredients except the oil and water in a bowl.
Using a whisk, add in the water and mix until you have a smooth, runny batter.
Heat a pan on medium heat 1 tsp of ghee to the pan. Add in half a ladle (about 1/2 cup) of the batter and let the pancake set on the pan. Lift and swirl the pan to ensure the batter spreads in a thin layer across the pan.
Sprinkle some oil over the top of the pancake and cook until the edges start to turn golden brown or separate from the pan, about 2-3 minutes.
Flip the pancake and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side. A thin or low profile spatula is great to flip without breaking the pancake.
Fold the pancake into in half or roll into a cigar and repeat steps 2-4 for the remaining batter.
Serve hot with a pickle or hot sauce.
serving suggestions
There are plenty of options to serve with Besan Chilla. You can’t go wrong with chutneys, and my two favourites are Cilantro-Mint Chutney and Sweet & Tangy Tamarind Chutney. As you see in the photos and in the video, I served my Besan Chilla with green chilli pickle, and you can serve with your favourite pickle! You can also serve with ketchup, your favourite hot sauce, and/or sour cream. You can’t go wrong with serving this with some Masala Chai or if you want a refreshing drink, then definitely go for a Mango Lassi!
Other Warm Breakfast recipes!
Watch How to Make besan Chilla Here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!