besan

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A flour made from ground chickpeas used in South Asian cooking

noun
/ˈbɛsən/

: besan

She made fritters using besan and spices for a traditional snack.

Examples

I bought some besan for making pakoras.
Can you pass the besan?
Many Indian sweets are prepared with besan as a main ingredient.
You can use besan to make gluten-free pancakes and savory dishes.
In South Asian cooking, many recipes call for besan to make delicious pancakes.
She prepared a thick batter using besan to cook savory fritters.
For a gluten-free option, you can substitute regular flour with besan in most recipes.

Surface Forms

besan singular

besans plural

Etymology

Besan comes from Hindi and Urdu besan, meaning 'chickpea flour'. So besan is the South Asian name for the flour made from ground chickpeas, which is why you see it in many traditional snacks and sweets.