BM# 101: Week 2, Day 2
Theme : Cooking with Chickpea flour

Growing up, chickpea flour or besan was a pantry staple at our home. It was mostly used to make quick pakoras when unexpected guests arrive or to make an occasional sweet treat. Another dish was this Bombay chutney that pairs well with dosa and idlis and even with curd rice.

Recently a friend of mine was mentioning that this is an oft repeated recipe at her place and they use Sattu flour (roasted chickpea flour) instead of besan. That’s when I remembered the many times amma have made this at home. I had completely forgotten about this one.

The base is a simple onion tomato mix with ginger and green chilies. To this a besan slurry is added and then everything is cooked together with Some water to thin it out. The reason to add besan as a slurry instead of adding it directly is to avoid the dry lumps. It’s a more tedious work to break down the lumps once it’s already in the heated pan.

Read on for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 red chilies
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1″ ginger piece, peeled and chopped
• 2-3 green chilies or 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 1 medium tomato, chopped finely

• 2 tablespoons besan
• 2 cups water*
• Salt as needed

*This amount needed to be adjusted according to the thickness preferred.

Method:

Mix besan with one cup of water until the lumps are dissolved and set aside.

Heat oil in a thick pan and add the mustard seeds and red chilies. Once it crackles, add the chopped ginger and sliced green chilies. Sauté for a couple of seconds and add the chopped onions. Sauté until it turns pink.

Add the tomatoes, salt, turmeric powder and chili powder(if using). Mix well and let it cook until tomatoes are done.

Add the besan slurry and another cup of water. Let it cook, stirring in between, until it thickens. If it is too thick, add a little more water until the consistency is to your preference.

Taste test and adjust seasonings if needed. Take off the heat and serve with idli or dosas.