BESAN KA CHILLA / बेसन का चिला

 Besan Chilla also known as Besan ka Cheela is a vegan, gluten-free, and protein-packed Indian pancake made with gram flour, and veggies and flavored with Indian spices. These savory gram flour pancakes are easy, nutritious, and perfect with chutney, pickle, or ketchup, for breakfast, snacks.

This is a gluten free snack because gram flour (chickpea flour) is gluten free flour and it’s the only flour used in this recipe. This chilla is the perfect breakfast food for busy mornings and for kids’ lunchbox as it is not only healthy but also stomach filling and only requires 10-15 minutes. First, the batter is prepared by mixing the besan, tomato, onion, green chilli, coriander leaves ( you can add any veggies of your choice available in your pantry ) and Indian spices with water and then round shaped pancakes made from that are shallow fried on tawa until crispy and light golden brown. It tastes delicious when served with tomato ketchup or green coriander chutney and a cup of tea in the afternoon or dinner. 

Follow the below given recipe of besan chillas with step by step photos to make it at home.

📌📌Watch the full video recipe here 📌📌

INGREDIENTS :

1 cup  Gram flour/ बेसन 

¼ cup Onion, finely chopped

¼ cup Tomato, finely chopped

¼ cup Green Bell Pepper,finely chopped

1 teaspoon Ginger, grated 

1-2 Green Chillies finely chopped, adjust to taste

¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder

½ to 1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, adjust to taste

¼ teaspoon Carom seeds /आजवाईन 

¼ teaspoon Asafoetida/  हिंग 

½ to ¾ teaspoon salt adjust to taste

¼ cup cilantro finely chopped

1 to 1¼ cup water to make batter

oil for cooking as required

METHOD -

 STEP 1 - In a mixing bowl, add the veggies of your choice or available in your pantry - onion, tomato,bell pepper, green chillies, ginger and coriander leaves. 

 STEP 2 -  Add the gram flour (you can sift the flour if you prefer to do so) followed by turmeric powder, red chilli powder, ajwain, hing, and salt.

STEP 3 -  Using a whisk mix all these dry ingredients.

STEP 4 - Then add water, half cup at a time. I used about 1 cup water. 

STEP 5 -  Mix well till incorporated and smooth without any lumps.

 STEP 6 -  The batter should be pouring consistency so incase you feel the batter has become thick after adding the veggies adjust the consistency by adding some water. Mine was just right with the original 1 cup of water we added before.

 STEP 7 -  Heat up the pan on medium heat and once hot add 1 tsp oil and then add a ladle full of the batter to the pan and spread it as thin as possible.

 STEP 8 -  Drizzle some oil (about a teaspoon) around the chilla and on the top and cook until the batter is all cooked on the top about 1-2 minutes.

 STEP 9 -  Ensure the bottom side is not turning brown too quickly in which case adjust the heat).

STEP 10 -  Flip using a spatula and let the other side cook too. Press down and cook until you see golden brown spots. 

 STEP 11 -  Once done, remove it onto a plate. Besan Chilla is ready!

 STEP 12 -  Repeat these steps for the remaining ones. Wipe the pan with a wet kitchen towel to bring the pan temp down for the next pancake. Make sure the pan is hot but not very hot otherwise they will brown quickly.

Serve Besan chilla with spicy green chutney and ketchup with hot tea!