What do you do with chickpea flour?

[kokotg]

I bought a 40 pound bucket of garbanzo beans months ago and haven't really gotten around to doing anything much with them. A lot of my plan involves using them in baking and the like as a flour substitute to boost the protein in stuff (I'm especially interested in doing more non-meat meals that don't rely overmuch on cheese). I have a grain mill--wondermill--I can put them in there to make flour, right? Then what? What proportion of wheat flour can I sub the chickpea flour in for? Or does it work that way? Are there some things it will work in and other things that it won't? Any recipes to share? Thanks!

[kalanamak]

Vegetable Pakoras

( double it for parties)

1 1/2 C chickpea flour or besan (can get at Indian groc. or in bulk

sections of many of the larger grocery stores, or in co-ops)

3/4 teas salt

1/2 teas baking soda

1/4 teas (generous) of turmeric (this helps you decide when it's done)

1/2 teap ground cumin

1/2 teas ground coriander (for these two, I added a teas + of my garam

masala...which has a healthy bit of both of these as a base)

3/4 teas whole ajwain or cumin. (We always use the ajwain...it gives an

unusual undertone, and is a cheap seed that stores well...available at

Penzey's)

1/4 teas ground black pepper

1/4 teas cayenne....(we add 1/2 or MORE..)

She says sift, but I don't, just break up the clumps of besan and mix

well with a fork. It travels very well in this form, and water can be

added at the party.

Beat in 1 1/4 C water until you have a smooth, thin batter.

Heat oil (we use peanut and do it in a small flat bottomed Peking-style

wok, but a big wok or a kardhi or a cast iron skillet (deep) would do

fine) between 350F and 375F (I usually guess...should fry the stuff

without exploding when the food goes in)

Cut a potato into 1/8 inch rounds, an onion ditto,

1/2 a sweet potato ditto, trim 16 string beans (oh these are good), 16

cauliflower florets, and some New Mexican chilis, or hot Italian. We

also did zucchini strips, whole garlic cloves (peeled) and slices of

turnip.

Dip in batter and fry about 7 minutes until they get a dark golden.

Drain and eat. The little tiny blobs of batter that drip into the oil

can be drained and put into raita or into kardi (the chickpea 'soup').

 

Now for the chutneys, the red one, the brown one and the green one.

Usha's Hot and Spicy Hyderabadi Tomato Chutney

(M. Jaffrey say that this perky relish can be kept in the fridge to

brighten up almost any meal.)

A pound of ripe toms peeled and chopped (About 1 3/4 C)

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 teas mashed garlic pulp

1/2 teas turmeric

1/4 teas cayenne

Put this in a bowl and reserve

 

Heat 4 T oil (I used Mustard and only 2 T)

Add 4 whole, peeled cloves of garlic and brown lightly.

Add

1 teas cumin seed

1/2 teas balck mustard seed

1/4 teas whole fenugreek seed

stir once and then add

2 whole dried hot red peppers (I used one big tein tsin) HAVE THE FAN ON

When the peppers have darkened and puffed up, add the reserved mixture

above and don't breath the blast of steam.

Cook, stirring a bit 10+ minutes until the mixture is 'dry' but not

panting.

Add 1/2 teas or so salt (ours needed 1 teas) and serve warm or chilled.

 

Tamarind-mint Chutney

This I make exactly how she says:

1 heaping T EACH of chopped cilantro and chopped mint

2 T chopped GUR (or brown sugar) (again, this is a cheap ingredient that

keeps, and will make your Indian food more, well, 'Indian'.)

3/4 " peice of ginger minced

1/4 teas kala namak (black salt...very cheap and keeps well)

2/3 cup tamarind paste (I use the compressed bricks...break off about a

cup of the brick and soak in enough warm water to cover and then some.

Break the material up into small peices in the water and let soak at

least 15 minutes. Rub the muck into a strainer with the back of a spoon,

being sure to scrape a spoon on the bottom of the mesh to capture the

thick muck.)

1/8 teas ground pepper, fine this time

1/8-1/4 teas cayenne

1 teas ground roasted cumin...place raw cumin seeds in a fry pan and

heat over medium, shaking now and then (use no oil) until they darken

and smell toasty. Grind in a mortar or under a rolling pin.

 

Place all of the above in a blender and puree (I use the one cup

attachment on the Oster Blender).

 

Mint Chutney

(the green one) Although Jaffrey has a recipe, we've never added the

yougurt.

3/4 C cilantro chopped and firmly packed

1/2 C mint chopped and firmly packed

0-2 seranno chiles (I do seed these for fine texture) minced

1 T of lemon juice

1/2 teas salt (half of this if you use no chile I would gamble)

Puree in blender as above. She add 3/4 C of yougurt which would make a

significantly different dish

 

 

The three chutney's above can be made well ahead, and the three colours

look good together.

Edited October 11, 2008 by kalanamak

[kalanamak]

Ajmer's Kardhi

place in a fairly big pot, like you'd make soup in

3/4 teas black mustard seed (the deep brown ones)

1/2 teas whole fenugreek

2 T chopped garlic

one small onion chopped finely

1 Cup chickpea flour (besan, gram atta)

2 Cups plain non-gelatin youghurt

4 Cups of water.

Mix and heat over medium heat, stirring continuously after it gets hot

and thick enough to stick to the bottom. As it

gets thick keep adding water (about 6 cups all told), stirring, cooking

until it changes in taste and smell.

Taste it at the beginning....raw chickpea will be the overwhelming

taste. It will change to a slightly tangy but

cooked flavour when done. All the raw taste will be gone. It's hard to

describe, but once you taste the change you'll

know what I mean.

Stir in enough turmeric to give it a yellow-custard color.

Add pakora (below) or put in bowls and place a few very browned thin

onion slices on the top (in their oil) or serve

plain.

A good starter for people who are new to Indian food and might need a

'safe haven' to run to if the sabji is too 'hot'.

 

Ajmer's mini-pakoras (optional addition to kardi)

 

1 cup chopped onion

a minced serrano chili or less

1 C besan or chickpea flour

mix in around 1/2 cup water to make a med-thick paste.

Heat 1 1/2 inches of good frying oil and drop in a Tablespoon at a

time. Cook until medium brown. drain on towel,

stir into kardi above. Can be made ahead of time and FREEZES well, so

you can make a bunch and just thaw as needed to be added to kardhi or to

raita.

[Ria]

You can't use chickpea flour as a subsitute for wheat flour. It doesn't work that way. I sometimes make Indian breads that call for chickpea flour, but it's only a few tablespoons at a time.

 

I hope you like hummus!! That's easy to make with chickpeas.

 

Ria

[Slartibartfast]

You can make falafel

[Mom to Aly]

You can make falafels, which are wonderful! There are lots of Indian dishes, Middle Eastern, etc, that use chick peas, Indian dishes use chick pea flour, chick peas are wonderful on salads, etc.

 

Hope that helps?

[KAR120C]

You can make falafels, which are wonderful! There are lots of Indian dishes, Middle Eastern, etc, that use chick peas, Indian dishes use chick pea flour, chick peas are wonderful on salads, etc.

 

Hope that helps?

Must. have. recipe!!! ;) I have seen falafel recipes that call for soaking and grinding chickpeas, but I never actually thought about using bought chickpea flour... which should have been obvious, but hey - I'm a little slow that way! ;) We just use our chickpea flour for pakoras, and it takes a long LONG time to use up a fairly small amount.... so more recipes would be excellent :)

[Amie]

You can make hummus with it--it would just be very smooth.

[E_Edgerton]

I believe you could make some very tasty pasta. http://www.lidiasitaly.com I find her recipes easy, authentic, and usually there are little stories that come along with the dish. Always great!

[Stacie]

I buy garbanzo bean flour from Bob's Red Mill to use in some recipes and flour mixes. I'm linking you to their product page, but at the bottom you'll see links to quite a few recipes made with the flour. We use it a lot in some breads and other baked items.

 

Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour & Recipe List

[Camy-7 boybarians 1 lady]

I use garbanzo bean flour in a gluten-free flour mix (1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup tapioca starch=1 Cup all purpose flour). Make sure you can mill garbanzos in your mill....they are higher in moisture/oil content than other legumes. Blessings.

[kokotg]

Thanks so much everyone!

 

I knew I couldn't just make bread out of the flour, but I was thinking I could sub some in for some of the whole wheat in certain recipes to boost the protein content. I have a friend whose daughter has a wheat allergy and she was telling me it works better for a lot of gluten free recipes than stuff like rice flour. The Bob's Red Mill list looks great! Must bookmark this thread and actually get some beans out.

[Jill]

I have not tried all these but have used my besan flour in a tart/quiche shell and in gluten free baking.

159 besan (gram or chickpea) flour recipes:

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?foodido=12663,13451,15601&title=gram%20flour

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/chickpeaflourpancake_5094.shtml

 

I haven't tried this recipe with the flour but was good with ground beans, maybe just add water?

http://www.recipesource.com/baked-goods/desserts/cakes/35/rec3507.html

[Camy-7 boybarians 1 lady]

I wanted to add that I do add 1 T of guar gum per cup of gluten-free flour substituted in recipes. Blessings.

[kokotg]

Reporting with the results of my first experiment: I put some of the flour in my bread tonight (I am not so good about measuring--it was maybe 3/4 cup of the garbanzo flour for 2 loaves). DH likes it but says it tastes a little "spicy." Kids haven't noticed a difference.