So, I tried my hand at making besan roti recently. Been meaning to try more gluten-free stuff, and chickpea flour flatbread sounded interesting enough to give it a shot.
Getting Started
First things first, I gathered my ingredients. Wasn’t much, really. The main thing, of course, is the besan, which is just chickpea flour. Got that out. Then needed some water, salt, a bit of red chili powder for a tiny kick, and some turmeric powder, mostly for color I guess. I also finely chopped up half an onion because I like that extra flavor in there.
- Besan (Chickpea Flour)
- Water
- Salt
- Red Chili Powder
- Turmeric Powder
- Chopped Onion (optional, but I used it)
Making the Dough
Okay, so I put the besan in a decent-sized bowl. Tossed in the salt, chili powder, turmeric, and the chopped onions. Gave it a quick mix with my hand just to spread things out.
Then came the water. The trick here, I found, is to add it slowly. Besan seems to soak up water differently than regular wheat flour. Poured a bit in, started mixing it with my fingers, bringing the flour together. Kept adding little splashes of water until it formed a dough. It wasn’t really a dough you knead like crazy. More like just gathering it all into a soft, slightly sticky ball. If it got too sticky, I just dusted my hands with a bit more besan. Let it sit for maybe 10 minutes while I cleaned up a bit.
Shaping the Roti
This was the part I figured might be tricky. Gluten-free doughs can be fragile. I pinched off a small ball of dough, about the size of a small lime. Dusted my hands and the rolling surface with more besan. Now, rolling it thin like a wheat chapati? Didn’t quite work out perfectly. It wanted to crack around the edges.
So, I ended up doing a mix of gentle rolling with a rolling pin and then just patting it out with my hands. Pressing down carefully, trying to keep it circular-ish. They weren’t perfectly round or super thin, more like small, slightly thick discs. But they held together, which was the main thing.
Cooking Time
Heated up my tawa, a flat cast-iron pan, over medium heat. You want it hot but not smoking like crazy. Carefully picked up one of the patted-out rotis and placed it on the hot tawa.
Let it cook for maybe 30-40 seconds, until I saw tiny bubbles appear and the color changed slightly. Flipped it over using tongs. Cooked the other side for another minute or so, pressing down gently with a cloth or spatula, especially around the edges. Sometimes little puffs of steam would appear.
I didn’t puff this batch up over an open flame, just cooked them through on the tawa. Flipped it one more time quickly if needed. Once it had nice brown spots on both sides and felt cooked through, I took it off the heat. Some folks brush it with ghee or butter right away; I skipped that this time.
The Result
So, what did I end up with? A stack of rustic-looking, yellowish flatbreads. The texture is definitely different from wheat roti – it’s denser, softer in a crumbly way, not chewy or stretchy at all because, well, no gluten. The taste is distinctly chickpea – nutty and earthy. The onion added a nice touch.
They were pretty good! Especially nice eaten hot with some plain yogurt or a simple curry. It’s a filling bread. Making them wasn’t too hard, mostly just needed a bit of patience with the shaping. Definitely a decent gluten-free option if you’re looking for one. Worth trying if you have some besan lying around.
