Besan Chilla (Indian Veg Omelet)

what chilla, a delicious, eggless, vegetarian omelet from North India, loaded with healthy protein from chickpea flour and plenty of nutrients from vegetables. It makes the perfect breakfast, brunch or lunch.

Index

What is gram flour?

Besan Chilla (also spelled Besan Chilla or Puda or Pudla) is a savory and eggless North Indian pancake made with chickpea flour or gram flour. A chili is highly nutritious – it’s low in fat, contains protein from chickpea flour, and usually contains other healthy ingredients including onions, green chilies, and turmeric and red spices.

Often, quick-cooked vegetables are added to chilla, which makes it even healthier. You can make chilla with other beans, like this yummy and super healthy sprouted mung chilla. Muglet is also a type of chilla.

In India, you’ll find besan chilla served as a street food or in restaurants as “vegetable omelette” or “vegetable omelette”. It’s easy to see why. A chick so closely resembles its egg counterpart, you might think they were separated at birth.

But the similarity is entirely skin deep as they taste quite different and weigh much higher on the health scale. While traditional omelets contain cholesterol, besan omelets certainly don’t, and can be made almost fat-free if you spray the skillet with cooking spray instead of oil.

And dare I say it tastes good?

Why you will love this recipe

• Flavor-packed. A chilla is so yummy, the nutty chickpea flour, onions, green chillies and coriander make magic together. The edges are golden-brown and crispy and delicious! This is sure to become one of your favorite breakfast recipes.
• simple. This is a very easy recipe to put together even if you are a fairly inexperienced cook.
• nutritious. Everything in this Besan Chilli is really good for you.
• Gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free and vegetarian. It is friendly to all diets.

material

• gram flour (chickpea flour). The best type of gram flour to use for this recipe is the type you buy from an Indian supplier or grocer. Gram flour is very finely ground and made by milling brown chickpeas, whereas the flour labeled as “garbanzo bean flour” here in the US is made from the coarser and larger beige chickpeas we’re more familiar with here.
• rice flour. Rice flour adds a nice crunch to the chilla and also refines the taste. I used to make chilla without rice flour but started using it on the recommendation of my niece, Preethi and it definitely adds to the texture.
• Spices: Turmeric, Red Chilli (or any red chili powder) and Ajwain (Carom seeds, optional).
• Herbs: Ginger, Garlic, Coriander (coriander leaves) and Green chilliesLike jalapeño or serrano peppers.
• vegetable. onion (red onion is best), vegetables and other vegetables of your choice (see helpful tips below for ideas).
• onion. Red onions are best, but yellow onions will do.
• the oil For cooking chili. You can also use cooking spray.

Helpful Tips

• You can make a chili oil-free, but using a little fat to coat a non-stick griddle or skillet helps create crispy edges. Use a cast-iron skillet for best results. For an even crispier edge, you can drizzle a little oil along the edges of the chilla while it cooks, just like you would with a dosa.
• Some cooks add a pinch of baking soda to the recipe to make the chile lighter and crispier. If you want to add baking soda, add no more than ⅛th of a teaspoon or a pinch to the batter before cooking the chili. Don’t forget to mix it up!
• The reason for sifting chickpea flour is to avoid any lumps that can be difficult to get rid of once you start adding water to the batter. Do not skip this step! Also add water slowly to avoid any clumping.
• You can make the chilla as thick or thin as you like by adjusting the amount of water in the batter, but don’t overdo it. When you add gram flour mixed with water in a hot medium, the starches in the lentils bind to the water and harden as it heats. This ensures that your chila will flip like an egg omelette. But adding too much water can create a batter that won’t bind so don’t just pour it. I need 1 ½ cups of water for this batter, which makes a moderately thin batter. You can add up to ½ cup more, but probably no more. The batter should have a pourable consistency and be thinner than regular pancake batter.
• When adding vegetables to chili, use vegetables that cook quickly, such as finely chopped greens, bell peppers, green beans, carrots, beets, cabbage, and cauliflower. If you are using vegetables that release a lot of liquid, such as summer squash, mushrooms, and tomatoes, make sure you allow enough time for the ingredients to sit after mixing so that the vegetables release their liquid before you add water.
• Mint and coriander leaves are amazing with the rest of the flavor in a gram flour. Use one or the other or both! Or use other savory herbs, such as rosemary or sage (use sparingly as these are strong herbs).

Serving advice

Storage instructions

• Besan Chila is best when made fresh. But if you have leftover chiles, refrigerate them in an airtight container and reheat them on the griddle before serving. Better to store the batter in the fridge and make the chilla before serving. The batter will keep in the fridge for up to three days.

Recipe FAQs

More Yummy Chickpea Flour Recipes

Love this besan chilla recipe? Check out more North Indian recipes at Holy Cow Vegan!