Collection of 46 tasty besan recipes – Besan also known as gram flour or chickpea flour is one of the most common ingredient found in Indian kitchens. Besan is basically flour made from chana dal aka bengal gram.
Usually besan is often used to make a variety of Pakoras in Indian cuisine. But apart from pakoras, there are some recipes which exclusively use besan as one of the main ingredient.
This collection contains snacks, breakfast, sides and sweets that are made with besan. Some sweets made with besan are very popular and they also have been included in the list.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Besan Breakfast Recipes
1. Missi Roti – Punjabi flatbreads made with whole wheat flour, gram flour and spices. Besan imparts a nice nutty flavor to the roti. It also helps in making the roti slightly crispy. A vegan recipe.
2. Cheela recipe – savory pancake made with gram flour, spices & herbs. Grated veggies can also be added to make the recipe more nutritious. You can also check Rava chilla and Moong dal cheela. These cheela are not only healthy but also quick and easy to make.
3. Methi thepla recipe – these are flatbreads made from fresh fenugreek leaves, whole wheat flour, gram flour and can be munched anytime of the day. serve methi thepla with Plain yogurt (curd) or lemon pickle or Mango pickle.
4. Bread pakora –Â popular snack of bread pakoda stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes. There are many variations of this popular snack like:
5. Eggless Tomato Omelette – This vegetarian omelette is made with gram flour, tomatoes, onions and Indian herbs & spices. A low fat, gluten-free and vegan dish.
6. Besan toast – one of those quick breakfast recipes that can be made in a jiffy. Just takes about 15 to 20 minutes. All you need is besan, the usual Indian spices-herbs and bread.
7. Besan oats chilla – quick and easy chilla made with oats, gram flour, spices-herbs. This healthy oats chilla recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make. So quick and easy enough for morning breakfast. This cheela is soft and has the taste of oats in it. Other popular Oats recipes on blog are:
8. Oats Uttapam – healthy, easy and an instant recipe of uttapam made with oats, rava and besan.
In the uttapams, I have added veggies like onion, bell pepper, tomatoes as a topping. You can even add grated carrots and beetroots. If you do not have any veggies, you can make them plain. But with topped veggies the taste is better.
9. Instant Thalipeeth – a spiced flatbread made from multigrain flour. Thalipeeth makes for a healthy, tasty and nutritious breakfast or snack. In this recipe, you can replace jowar flour and bajra flour with whole wheat flour, if you don’t have them at home.
Main Course Recipes with besan
1. Besan capsicum – simple yet tasty recipe of a sabzi or bhaji made with capsicum (green bell peppers or shimla mirch) and besan. The recipe is very easy to prepare and gets done within 20 to 25 minutes. So good for those days when you do not have much time for cooking.
2. Besan bhindi – a dry, aromatic, tangy and spiced okra curry from the Rajasthani cuisine. this is also a no onion no garlic recipe. The end result is a crisp, spiced and masala coated bhindi which goes very well with chapatis or phulkas. You can also check this Kurkuri bhindi and Ladies finger fry.
3. Kadhi chawal – popular North Indian recipe of Punjabi kadhi pakora. Fried onion pakoras in a creamy & sour yogurt sauce. each state and region have their own ways of making kadhi. So we have Maharashtrian kadhi, Rajasthani kadhi, Gujarati kadhi, sindhi kadhi and so on.
4. Gatte ki sabji – It is a popular gravy based dish from the Rajasthani cuisine. Gatta or gatte (plural) are gram flour roundels that are added to a curd based gravy.
Besan sweets recipes
1. Mysore pak recipe – popular and super delicious Indian sweet from the city of mysore. Mysore pak is made with gram flour, ghee and sugar. This melt in the mouth rich sweet is so called as its was invented in the kitchens of the Mysore palace. few more popular recipes from Mysore cuisine are:
2. Seven cup burfi – easy and delicious South Indian sweet that can be made for any festive or religious occasion. 7 cup barfi is also called as 7 cup cake. As the name suggests, 7 cup barfi includes 7 cups or 7 measures of ingredients. It is a popular sweet recipe made during Diwali festival. You can also check this Collection of 121 Diwali sweets recipes.
3. Besan ladoo – one of the popular ladoos often made during festive occasions. Besan ladoo is an easy and healthy sweet that is made all over India. for more delicious ladoo recipes you can check this Collection of 26 ladoo recipes.
4. Besan halwa – a delicious halwa made from gram flour, ghee, sugar and cardamom powder. besan halwa is a quick recipe but a lot of stirring is required, so too much of hand work. But every bit of effort is worth to make this dessert. If you like halwa then you can check these popular Halwa recipes like:
5. Besan barfi – traditional Indian sweet of a rich and delicious barfi made with gram flour, sugar and ghee. it is one of those traditional sweets that is loved by everyone including kids.
Besan snacks recipes
1. Pakora recipes – pakora or pakoda are basically Indian fritters made with gram flour (besan). Pakoras are fried, crisp snacks made with different veggies. You can have pakoras with Bread or with an accompanying Chutney like Pudina Chutney or Coriander chutney or Sweet green chutney or Sweet chaat chutney or Tomato sauce.
2. Khandvi recipe – soft and melt in mouth spiced and tempered rolls made from besan batter. Preparing khandvi is slightly tricky, but once you get it right, its one of the most easiest snack one can make.
3. Sev recipe – crisp, thick sev made from gram flour and spices. This is a quick, savory snack prepared during Diwali. the taste of this besan sev is medium spiced and the texture is crisp. Besan sev can be served as tea time snack.
4. Amritsari paneer tikka – paneer cubes are marinated in a mixture of gram flour, spices, herbs and then pan fried. The recipe comes from the city of Golden temple – Amritsar in Punjab. tofu can be used as a substitute for paneer. few more delicious recipes from amritsar city are Amritsari chole, Paneer kulcha and Amritsari dal.
5. Cheese balls – easy to prepare tasty recipe of cheese balls with potatoes, gram flour and cheese. Another variation of this popular snack is Corn cheese balls.
6. Methi muthia – steamed or fried dumplings made from besan and fenugreek leaves (methi).
7. Khaman recipe – khaman dhokla or khaman as its called, Is a savory steamed cake made from gram flour. Khaman is soft and fluffy, mildly tangy-sweet and a great snack anytime of the day. few more dhokla recipes on the blog are:
8. Dahi ke kabab – crisp, soft and tasty kababs made with dahi or curd. Here the dahi used is Hung curd. few more delicious kabab recipes on blog are:
9. Ribbon pakoda – fried crisp ribbon shaped savory snack. Easy to prepare and tastes good too. ribbon pakoda is usually made as Diwali snack in south India, but you can even make it on any regular day and serve as a tea time snack. Another similar recipe you can make is Butter murukku.
10. Palak pakora – crisp, deep fried spinach fritters. these palak pakoras can be baked too if you don’t want to fry them, with all the goodness of the spinach, sesame seeds and of course chickpea flour.
11. Bhakarwadi Recipe – One of the popular snack from western India is bhakarwadi. They are addictive and have a sweet, spicy and tangy taste.
12. Omapodi recipe – omapodi is a South Indian snack of sev laced with the aroma and flavor of ajwain or carom seeds (known as omam in Tamil language). Omapodi is very easy to make and does not need much expertise in cooking. Usually various types of sev are made during Diwali. Omapodi is one such savory dish that is made as a Diwali snack.
13. Paneer tikka – easy and fool proof recipe of a delicious paneer tikka on tawa or stove top or griddle. if you don’t have a tava then you can also make this tikka recipe in a frying pan. Few other delicious snacks recipes you can make with paneer are
14. Onion pakoda recipe – onion fritters made with gram flour are a popular Indian street food. It is one snack that is easy to prepare and tastes good too. Onion pakoras are usually served with some fried salted green chilies and a Green chutney or Sweet chutney. few more yummy variations of onion pakoras are:
- Ulli vada (Kerala style)
- Vengaya bajji (South Indian style)
- Onion fritters (South Indian style)
- Kanda bhaji (Mumbai style).
15. Kothimbir vadi recipe –Â kothimbir vadi is a delicious savory crisp snack made with gram flour (besan), coriander leaves and spices. In Marathi language “kothimbir” or “kothmir” stands for coriander leaves. The word ‘vadi’ means cubes or slices or wedges.
16. Batata vada – a popular Maharashtrian snack of spiced mashed potatoes, coated with gram flour batter and then deep fried. Tastes best when hot and served with some fried & salted green chilies.
17. Paneer pakoda –Â these tasty paneer pakoras are crisp from outside and soft from inside. You can have them as a snack or serve with rotis or bread. Paneer pakoda is a popular pakora variety. Few more popular Pakora varieties you can make are:
18. Bonda recipe – deep fried snack made with gram flour (besan) batter and stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes. aloo bonda are the South Indian version of the popular Maharashtrian batata vada.
19. Chakli recipe – crisp, crunchy and tasty chaklis for Diwali festival. Chakli is a deep fried snack made from rice flour, gram flour, wheat flour or a mixture of lentil flours. Chakli or Chakri are made as a part of the Diwali faraal (Diwali snacks and Sweets) in maharashtra and Gujarat.
20. Veg bonda recipe – deep fried snack of stuffed mix veggies coated with gram flour batter (besan). as the name suggests mix veggies are added. To make these addictive snack, you can add your choice of mix veggies. I added carrots, potatoes and peas. I always add these three veggies. if there is cauliflower, then I add some of it too. You can also add capsicum and beetroots.
21. Mirchi vada recipe – stuffed chili fritters or chili cutlet. To make these pakoras or mirchi vadas, you need large chilies, which are not spicy and are mild. I have used bhavnagari chilies. You can also use large green chilies which are used in making stuffed chili pickle. If you live outside India, then you can use jalapeno peppers.
22. Gobi 65 recipe – spicy starter snack of fried cauliflower florets. The genre of 65 recipes are pretty popular in southern parts of India. apart from gobi 65, you can also make Aloo 65, Paneer 65 And Mushroom 65.
23. Aloo bajji recipe – Potato fritters or Batata bhajji as I call them has always been a favorite snack at home. Cooked soft melt in the mouth potato slices, golden and crisp served with some coriander chutney & tamarind date chutney
24. Mushroom tikka recipe – this is a very easy recipe. You just need to marinate the mushrooms and then grill or bake the mushrooms in the oven. You can even use a tandoor or grill if you have these. few more delicious Mushroom recipes on the blog are:
25. Methi na gota recipe – Gujarati tea time snack made from besan and fenugreek leaves. Serve them with any green chutney or mint chutney or raw papaya chutney.
26. Fafda recipe – fafda is a fried crispy crunchy tasty snack made with besan (gram flour), laced with carom seeds and black pepper. Fafda is a popular Gujarati snack. This fafda recipe makes for fafda which tastes similar to the fafda you get outside.
27. Fafda chutney or besan chutney recipe – making this besan chutney is ridiculously easy, quick and taste good with fafda, gathiya, chorafali and gota. during Dussehra festival fafda along with this fafda chutney, Papaya chutney and Jalebi is sold like hot cakes in Gujarat.
28. Potato sev – crisp sev made with potatoes and gram flour. the texture and taste of this potato sev recipe is not like aloo bhujia. The taste is like that of a spiced sev. They are crisp and Chatpata.
This Besan Recipes Collection post from the archives, first published in April 2017 has been updated and republished on November 2022.
nice and impressive..
Thanks Sanjay
I am interesed about recipe
Hi….can you please post gatte ki sabzi recipe.. searched in your site but could not find it
sarita, i still need to add gatte ki sabzi recipe. will definitely add in some time.