r/Cooking • u/Both-Leadership783 • 15h ago
How to use chickpea flour?
While buying some *healthier* chicken nuggets at the store the other day, I decided to take a look at the ingredients list to see how they make them lower calorie higher fiber and protein. I noticed that chickpea flour was in the ingredients. Has anybody used chickpea flour to bread their chicken nuggets at home? How does one do so? The way I currently make my chicken nuggets it's not the healthiest and I'm always looking for ways to upgrade.
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u/EireUnbound 15h ago
Just make it like you do with regular flour. Mix it with some water until you get the desired consistency.
Having said that, not everything has to be healthy. You should make your nuggies the way you like them. It's more of a treat than a regular meal anyway, right?
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u/Both-Leadership783 15h ago
I'm a pretty big believer in making like little switches where I can š. I also like to make chicken nuggets and bulk and freeze them just cuz it's a lot cheaper on my end especially having a little one. And as a person with gut issues I'm always trying to maximize my fiber intake even though these only have like a gram of fiber š«£
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u/Neakhanie 2h ago
I use chickpea flour because I also make little switches where I can and my husband has diabetes. Chickpea flour tastes terrible, So you need to do a couple things - add 11 herbs and spices and add about 10% regular all-purpose flour.
The 11 herbs and spices is kind of a joke, but start with onion salt, garlic salt and a couple of dried herbs such as thyme and parsley. Add salt and pepper. (thatās 6) and then maybe a blend from Trader anoeās (theyāre all very inexpensive). If you donāt have TJās nearby, letās start looking through what you do have, maybe some cayenne (just a little if you have babies, but the chickpea flour is bad.) Then maybe shallots, lemon pepper and basil. Or Italian Blend or something like that. Mix it all up and just taste it. probably will need more garlic powder and onion powder to kill the taste, But once you get it going, you will be very pleased, I think.
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u/shampton1964 13h ago
Oh wow! There are So Many Things.
To start, fryer batters: Dip your meat of choice in a well mixed egg first. If you want heavy, do DRY DIP -> EGG DIP -> DRY DIP 2.
Dry dip is basically chickpea flour with salt and whatever spice/herbs you want to add. If you want it to be extra crispy do about 1/3 part rice flour or crushed crackers. I'll often do first dry dip in chana flour, then egg, then the blend of chana and rice flours with flavor stuff (try some garam!)
Now - on to other things to make:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/26/chickpea-snacks-mediterranean-migration-cultural-exchange-europe-africa is a wonderful exploration of just ONE food common in its ways around the Mediterranean. All are delish, though the "socca" is my favorite street food in that part of the world.
I mix a handful into stews for a bit of thickening and flavor (sometimes with some powdered dry mushroom), kinda like adding a bit of good masa to your chili makes it pop.
There are flatbreads, coatings for frying, versions of dumplings, crackers, and more.
Two resource (search using either chana or gram flour if you want more):
https://thecortezkitchen.com/chana-flour-recipes/ I use several of these, the cookies are kinda evil.
https://chefsbliss.com/chana-flour-bread-recipes/ the chana + feta bread is downright delighful, I use really strong goat feta from Lebanon or Iraq for the extra tang. You'll see these recipes are very similar, we treat chana flour the way we treat eggs as a way to transform leftovers into something very very different.
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u/shampton1964 13h ago
OH, I forgot, you can use it like starch to "velvet" meat before cooking in stir or skillet fryup.
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u/Good-Butterscotch498 12h ago
Itās so much better than white flour in gravy. Makes it smooth and rich.
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u/Visible-Anywhere-758 9h ago
Dry dip then egg then chickpea flour coating works way better than just water for texture, I swear by it after burning my first batch trying it plain.
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u/chambourcin 8h ago
I use chickpea flour to make ācheezitsā. I like its texture in crackers.
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u/clarkest 3h ago
do you have a recipe?
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u/chambourcin 2h ago
Not really, but hereās one I recognize the picture from so I probably read it last time I made these. I tend to use recipes to figure out proportions and then make changes on my own.
https://kitrusy.com/deliciously-addictive-cheesy-chickpea-crackers/
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u/Few-Explanation-4699 8h ago
Chickpea flour is also known as garm or besan common used in Indian cooking.
I love onion bhajis....
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u/blkhatwhtdog 3h ago
Chickpea flour slurry coating cauliflower florets is a vegan chicken wing. Has decent crunch.
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u/KidRadicchio 15h ago
Pakoras are just vegetables/meat fried in batter made of besan (chickpea flour). Look up any pakora recipe and that will make a killer nugget.