Chickpea Flour Pancakes (Besan Chilla/Cheela) – Traditional Pancakes Taken To The Next Level
- Updated on Feb 20, 2017
Want to Save This Post?
Enter your email & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Hurry the Food Up.
I’d been wanting to try chickpea flour pancakes (sometimes known as besan or garbanzo flour too, or even besan chilla and cheela) and there are nearly as many different ways to make them as there are names!
Actually, I’d heard of so many that I got a little stuck with where to start.
I knew I wanted to keep them pretty traditional (I absolutely love Indian food and these have a lot of history in Northern India) and so I wanted to keep that lovely Indian flavour but I also wanted to give them a modern, western twist so they’d be really quick and use no mysterious ingredients I’d have to travel across Europe for.
After plenty of trial and error, this is what was born. Different to most pancakes that we’ve made in the past, these are decidedly savoury.
Our now world-famous 2 ingredient pancakes can be eaten both sweet or savoury, as can these high protein cottage cheese, but these chickpea pancakes are something else entirely.
With a pleasingly aromatic smell, these pancakes immediately ask to be paired with pickles and chutneys, or a yogurt or cream dip. Hummus and guacamole also go really well.
And so, dear readers, we give you chickpea pancakes.
A high protein, high fibre breakfast, lunch or dinner that tastes like the best of Indian cuisine while being easy to make, and even easier to eat.
Any vegans out there will also be pleased to hear that these are right up their street, as well will gluten or lactose avoiders.
Chickpea Pancakes – What I Learnt
As mentioned, these chickpea (or besan/chillas) pancakes are exceptionally easy to make, and made even better when these simple rules are followed.
- Use a large pan. These pancakes are far superior when they’re thin – easier to flip and the veggies get cooked better too.
- Use a non-stick pan, and use a little tissue to make sure the surface is evenly coated in oil.
- Use whatever veg you have laying around. This dish works on so many levels that virtually any vegetable will work with it, so here’s your chance to use those leftovers!
- Dice the veg finely. The smaller it’s chopped, the better it cooks.
- Eat them hot! In my humble opinion this is imperative, so if you’re cooking multiple pancakes then keep them warm in the oven.
- Once they’re all ready, don’t dawdle 🙂
To ghee or not to ghee, that is the question.
Throughout my experiments with this recipe, I came across a very interesting topic, worthy of our time.
Ghee is often used in Indian cooking, and, as may well be expected, goes very well as the cooking base in this dish (it replaces the oil).
It is made by melting butter and then removing the milk solids. It still has that buttery taste, and has a really high smoke point, so it’s perfect for pancakes.
It’s also high in vitamins A and E, and according to Care2 it can last for a verrrrry long time!
It is not vegan of course, however it does seem to be one of the only dairy products that is lactose-free, or so low in lactose that it won’t cause a reaction to dairy intolerant people anyway.
You should always check with your doctor of course and that doesn’t mean it’s safe for dairy allergic peeps however, so if you are, we highly advise you stay away!
If you’re interested in ghee and would like to try it, it’s easy to find. You can click here or in the recipe below if you’d like to look at the different types available.
So – up to you. Whether you go with ghee or stick with olive oil, you’re in for a treat. Welcome to the next level of pancake!
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup chickpea flour (or besan/garbanzo flour)
- ½ cup water
- ½ tsp turmeric
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ tsp chili flakes (optional)
- 1 spring onions
- 1 tsp olive oil (ghee would be perfect here, but not vegan)
Topping suggestions
- ¼ bell pepper, red
- ¼ cup peas
- 1 tbsp hummus
Instructions
- Add the chickpea flour, water, turmeric, salt, pepper and chili flakes (if using) to a mixing bowl and give it a quick blend using a food processor or blender. Leave it to settle for a few minutes while you heat up the oil or ghee in a non-stick pan. The batter needs to look very runny!
- Finely dice the spring onions and add them to the mixture.
- In a pan heat up the oil, then add the mixture when the pan is hot – medium heat should be just right.
- Cook for about 4 minutes – the mixture will quickly start to firm.
- Make sure you use a large pan here, you’re aiming for thin pancakes. They’re MUCH easier to handle!
- Use a large spatula to help you flip the pancakes. After another 2-3 minutes your pancake will be ready!
- Done! Add your desired toppings and enjoy (eg. peas and bell pepper).
Serving suggestions:
- Any chutneys (red onion is a favourite of ours) yogurt dip, hummus, avocado, guacamole, Branston Pickle (if you can find it where you are it goes incredibly well!).
NOTES
Nutrition
Comments
Leave a comment below
125 comments
Used leeks instead of spring onions and crisped them in the ghee first. Removed them, poured pancake batter into flavoured ghee, sprinkled crispy leeks on top while the pancake cooked. So good.
That sounds wonderful!! Thanks for sharing, Seena!
Tried this loved it. Added a touch more water, but otherwise as advised. Will definitely make again. Thank you. Served with some finely cubed and sautéed sweet potato, red pepper and vegan bacon with chipotle flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice …yum.
Awesome!!! So good to hear. Sounds like a feast. Which vegan bacon brand can you recommend?
I am not well versed in the kitchen at all. I struggle to make pretty much anything myself. I started working out, so I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and try this recipe to eat after coming home from the gym. I only had broccoli in my fridge, and no turmeric, so I diced the broccoli I had and added 1tsp of paprika and 1tsp of cumin. Also, I made half a cup instead of one cup, since it’s my first time trying this, I didn’t want to get overwhelmed with two pots. Also, I’m vegan, so I tried avocado oil instead of ghee, since it was a high smoke point too. Let me tell you- it was SO easy to make this, I couldn’t believe how well it turned out. SO delicious!!! I am beyond happy, and well fed! Thank you!
Cris, so good to hear this!! I wish you lots of success with your health goals! I regularly make these, so easy :-))
Hello! Can the batter or the cooked pancakes be frozen? Thank you!
I never tried it to be honest. I don’t think anything speaks against it!
Very delicious and I can’t wait to try different combinations of flavours! Thanks!
Deffo a go-to of mine as well! 🙂
Glad you liked the recipe, Nouran!
How can something so easy and fast be so yummy?! I used oat milk instead of water, just because it needed using. Also added methi, cause – well, I just love methi! Thanks for this delicious, easy recipe!
Woop! Awesome to hear! Really glad you enjoyed it, thanks for writing
Hi, this didn’t quite work for me – the texture ended up being quite wet and sticky rather than crispy, even though it was in the pan for quite a while. Still tasty though!
Hi Sarah! Oh dear, well I’m glad you still enjoyed it! Did you use a very large pan to get the pancake really thin? That’s deffo important for the crispness. Please give it another shot in the largest pan you have (or alternatively try splitting into two pancakes if you have a smaller pan). Enjoy!
Great recipe! I really like these, so I imagine this is where the rest of my long disused bag of chickpea flour is going to go! I found I got the best texture by pouring in the middle of the pan, then using a soup spoon to spread the batter out thin (like I’ve read suggested for dosas). I ate them with tamarind pickle and pickled red onions, but I can see how you could use these as a vessel for almost anything. I know what I’m making if I run out of tortillas for a quesadilla too 🙂
Uhh, tamarind pickle sounds pretty cool!! I’d like to try that! And yes, if you have sth to spread out the batter even better! If not, then having a slightly more liquidy batter will work too.
I’m a fan of these as well 🙂