Besan Buying Guide: How to Check Quality and Store It

Quick answer: Good besan is a pale butter-yellow, smells nutty and slightly sweet, and feels fine with only the faintest grain when you rub it between your fingers. Buy small packs with a recent packing date, then keep it airtight in a cool, dark cupboard — or in the fridge if your kitchen stays humid.

Besan (also known as gram flour or chickpea flour in English, besan in Hindi, kadalai maavu in Tamil and senaga pindi in Telugu) goes into almost everything we cook — chilla, kadhi, pakora, laddoo, even the quick batter for an evening snack. Most of us buy it without a second thought, and only notice something is off when the kadhi tastes flat or the pakoras carry a faint bitterness. Both problems usually begin at the shop, or in the jar at home.

What Is Besan Actually Made From?

Besan is milled from split brown chickpeas — chana dal — not from the big white kabuli chana. That is why it is denser, nuttier and deeper in colour than the chickpea flour sold in many Western shops. ODM Chana Besan is ground from cleaned, handpicked chana dal with no fillers and no artificial colour, which matters a great deal in a flour this plain, because there is nothing to hide behind.

It is also easy to mix up besan with chana sattu, which is made from roasted chana and can be eaten without cooking. Besan is raw and must be cooked. We covered the full difference in Sattu vs Besan.

How to Judge Besan Quality Before You Buy

• Colour: a soft, pale butter-yellow. A very bright, almost neon yellow usually means colour has been added; a dull grey-yellow means the flour is already old.
• Smell: nutty and faintly sweet. Sour, musty or cardboard-like smells mean it has been sitting too long.
• Texture: fine and free-flowing with a barely-there grain. Chalky, talc-smooth flour often has cheaper flours mixed in.
• Packing date: besan carries natural oils, so look for something packed within the last two to three months.
• The pack itself: properly sealed, dry, no hard lumps in the corners and no cloudiness on the inside of the plastic — that cloudiness is trapped moisture.

Two Checks You Can Do at Home

The rub test. Take a pinch and rub it between thumb and finger. Besan should feel soft with a slight bite to it. If it feels slippery and powder-smooth like talc, it has most likely been stretched with maida or another very fine flour.

The dough test. Mix a spoonful with a few drops of water. Good besan forms a soft, cohesive ball and smells nutty. If it stays crumbly, refuses to bind, or smells sharp, save it for a coating batter and buy fresh for laddoo or kadhi, where the flavour has nowhere to hide.

How to Store Besan So It Stays Fresh

The natural oils from the chana are what go off first, and air, heat and damp are the three things that speed it up. A few small habits make all the difference:

• Move it out of the plastic pouch into a steel or glass jar with a tight lid on the day you open it.
• Keep that jar in a cool, dark cupboard, away from the stove and the sink.
• Only ever put a dry spoon in. One damp spoon is enough to start lumps.
• Buy an amount you will finish in about two months rather than a big sack before the monsoon.
• A few carom seeds (ajwain) or a bay leaf tucked into the jar is an old kitchen habit for keeping insects out.

Signs Your Besan Has Turned

Stop using it if you notice a sour or bitter smell, a distinctly grey cast, hard lumps that will not break under a spoon, fine webbing, or tiny moving specks. Bitter besan does not improve with cooking — it simply carries that taste through the whole dish.

FAQ

Is besan the same as chickpea flour?

Not quite. Besan is ground from split brown chana dal, while much of what is sold abroad as chickpea flour comes from white kabuli chana. Besan is finer, darker and stronger in flavour, so the two do not swap one-for-one in a recipe.

Can I keep besan in the fridge?

Yes, and in humid or coastal weather it is the better choice. Use a properly airtight jar so the flour does not pick up moisture or fridge smells, and let it come back to room temperature before you open the lid.

Why does my besan taste bitter?

Usually because the natural oils in the flour have gone rancid with age, heat or light, the same way old atta or nuts do. Sometimes the besan has simply been over-roasted while cooking. If the raw flour already smells sharp, the problem is the flour and not your cooking.

If you would rather start with a flour that gives you nothing to second-guess, our Chana Besan is milled from handpicked chana dal with no added colour, no fillers and no preservatives — ready for your next chilla or kadhi.