Stored

Chickpea flour at rest: fine pale yellow powder, protein-dense and gluten-free.

Shows the flour's distinctive pale golden color, fine texture, and dry powdery form so readers recognize it in a package or bin.

Baking

Chickpea Flour

Nutty, gluten-free flour for socca, fritters, and batters

Naturally gluten-free and protein-rich, chickpea flour makes socca and farinata, binds fritters, and crisps a batter golden. It tastes earthy and a touch beany. Keep it airtight.

Chickpea flour — also called gram flour, besan, or garbanzo flour — is ground dried chickpeas, a naturally gluten-free flour rich in protein and fiber with an earthy, nutty, faintly savory flavor. It's a cornerstone of Indian (pakora, besan), Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean cooking (socca, panisse), prized for binding, frying, and forming savory batters. It cooks into something custardy and sets firm, behaving more like a savory base than a sweet baking flour.

Measured in: g
Storage: Airtight

Find it in

Baking Aisle

Types & varieties

Besan (Indian gram flour)

From split brown chickpeas; finer, slightly different flavor.

Garbanzo bean flour

From whole white chickpeas; common in the West.

Roasted chickpea flour

Toasted for nuttier flavor and less raw bitterness.

How to use

It thickens and binds — use it for fritter and pakora batters, for socca/farinata flatbread, and as an egg replacer (whisk with water). Cook it thoroughly; raw chickpea flour tastes bitter, but it mellows into nutty savoriness once cooked.

Pakora and bhaji batter
Socca, farinata, and panisse
Egg-free omelets and binders
Gluten-free savory flatbreads

How to store

Keep it airtight in a cool, dry cupboard. It keeps for months; toast it lightly in a dry pan to deepen flavor before use.

Common uses

Pakora, bhaji, and frittersSocca and farinata flatbreadPanisse (chickpea fries)Egg-free omelets (chickpea scramble)Binding veggie burgers and falafelGluten-free batters and coatingsThickening curries and soups