Chickpea Flour

Gluten free cooking is wonderfully full of options, and one of them is chickpea flour.

It is also known as gram, besan, or garbanzo bean flour, and has been a staple in south asian cooking for centuries. Chickpeas are versatile legumes with a mild, nutty taste, and chickpea flour is typically made from a variety called Bengal grams.

Compared to wheat flour, garbanzo flour is lower in calories lower in carbs and it has a significantly lower glycemic index because it is much higher in fiber, 11 gr per 100 gr against 2.7 gr.

Chickpea flour is loaded with important nutrients. It naturally contains iron, thiamine, folate, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, potassium and manganese.

This yellow flour brings along, per serving of 30 gr (1/4 cup), 17 gr of carbs of which 3 are fiber, 2 gr of fat and 7 gr of protein. 

In your kitchen, you can use chickpea flour as a replacement for wheat flour in baking, as a natural thickener in soups and curries, to make pancakes or crepes and as a light and airy breading for fried food.