Besan, also called chickpea flour or gram flour, is a finely ground flour made from dried chickpeas, used throughout South Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African cooking. Chickpeas were among the earliest cultivated legumes in the Middle East, and India remains the world's largest grower and consumer of the crop today.
In Indian cooking, besan is fried into pakoras and bhajias, worked into sweets like laddoo, and used to thicken curries, stews, and chutneys, as well as to make flatbreads like poori and paratha. Beyond South Asia, it's used in socca, a savory chickpea pancake from the south of France, and panisse, a fried chickpea fritter found in Provence and Liguria.
Besan has a nutty, earthy flavor with a slight sweetness, and pairs well with cumin, coriander, turmeric, and chili, as well as with other legumes and vegetables. Good besan is finely and evenly ground, pale to golden in color, with a fresh, nutty smell.