Chickpea Flour: How to Prepare and Enjoy this Multi-Cultural Traditional Food

The popularity of gluten-free foods and gluten-free flour for baking continues to rise. Chickpea flour, the result of grinding garbanzo beans, is one such flour that appeals not only to those who eat gluten-free, but also those avoiding grains.

A July 2015 poll found that at least 1 in 5 Americans include gluten-free foods in their diet. This segment of the population is far larger than the roughly 1% of Americans with Celiac disease or another medical reason to avoid gluten. Clearly, people currently tend to view a gluten-free approach to eating quite favorably (1).

It’s not just gluten-free eating that’s caught on big time. NPR crowned 2013 as “the year of the Paleo”, due to an explosion in popularity of grain-free eating. Since then, the trend continues. While not all Paleos consume chickpeas either whole or as flour, some do include them as a form of resistant starch to encourage the growth of beneficial gut microbes.

The growth in gluten-free and grain-free style eating has created a huge demand for processed and prepared foods with ingredients that fit the bill. You don’t even have to go to the health food store to find them. Rice bread, corn pasta, and hundreds of other new and novel products are now available in the average grocery store.

Chickpea (Gram) Flour Nutritional Comparison

If you’re considering chickpea flour as a possibility in your fully or partially wheat-free kitchen, here’s how it stacks up nutritionally to other gluten and grain-free flours on the market. The first thing to know is that depending on where you live, you may encounter a variety of different names.

For example, the term gram flour refers to a ground pulse from a specific variety of chickpeas known as the Bengal gram. Gram flour is a staple in the cuisine of a number of Asian countries including, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Flour from other varieties of chickpeas is popular on other continents.

Several other names for chickpea, or gram flour, are commonly used in traditional cuisine. These include:

• Besan powder
• Besan flour
• Garbanzo bean flour
• Garbanzo flour

Traditionally Made Gram Flour

Ancestral peoples traditionally made gram flour by grinding either raw or (usually) roasted chickpeas. It is highly unique as flour as it is higher in protein, fiber, and other nutrients compared with grain-based flours. It compares most favorably to gluten-free grains many of which tend to be overly heavy in simple carbs.

According to Lindsey Love in her book Chickpea Flour Does it All, finely ground garbanzo beans blow away both rice flour and whole wheat flour when comparing nutritional stats. It truly has the nutrition, versatility, taste, and texture to make the grade in any choosy cook’s kitchen.

Garbanzo Beans and Chickpea Flour: Traditional Foods from 5 Continents

For once, the growing modern popularity of chickpea gram flour makes sense and is well deserved!

Even more exciting, besan flour is a traditional food, consumed by many cultures from multiple continents around the world. While some cultures use the flour ground from raw chickpeas, gram flour is usually made from the roasted legume. More on the reasons for this below.

Cultures from 5 continents makeover three dozen dishes using chickpeas or garbanzo bean flour as a staple ingredient (2). Here’s a small sampling:

• North Africa enjoys chickpea flour made into a pancake-like food called chilla, and a mixture of flour and egg called Karan.
• The Middle East gives us the well-known favorite known as hummus.
• From Eastern Europe comes the Armenian vegetarian meatball dish called topik. Cooks mix garbanzo flour with potatoes and combine with a filling of onions, nuts, and currants.
• Western Europe enjoys the Spanish dish Cocido lebaniego. It is a stew that blends chickpeas, potatoes, and collard greens (cabbage is sometimes a substitute) in a rich broth.
• North Indians enjoy the dish Soan papdi where the baked besan flour is served cube-shaped or as flakes, with a crisp and flaky texture.
• Mexico’s Caldo tlalpeño is a traditional dish containing chicken, chickpeas, carrots and green beans submerged in a chicken broth with garlic and onion and seasoned with epazote and chipotle chili.
• Puchero is a type of chickpea stew that enjoys wide appeal in Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, the Philippines, Mexico, and Spain!

While chickpeas and the besan flour made from grinding them is a nutritious staple from numerous cultures, does this legume have pitfalls to watch out for when cooking with them at home?

Chickpea Anti-Nutrients

What are phytates in food and why does it matter? In essence, the term “phytate” refers to a group of eight different anti-nutrients found in all plants. Most nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains contain substantial amounts. Phytic acid is the most common, chemically known as inositol hexaphosphate and IP-6.

Phytates are important to the health of plants because they store the phosphorus needed to support germination and growth. An enzyme called phytase neutralizes the phytate to release the phosphorus. Plants and most animals have the ability to manufacture their own phytase. Unfortunately, humans do not! While beneficial bacteria in the human intestine produce small amounts, it is not enough phytase to digest phytates found in foods. Undigested phytate binds with iron, calcium, and zinc, which means the minerals can’t be properly absorbed. This has the potential to trigger mineral deficiencies over time (3).

Phytates in Chickpeas

It is important to understand that phytic acid content varies greatly from food to food. According to this lengthy chart from the Weston A. Price Foundation, chickpeas definitely contain phytates, but not at the extremely high levels of some foods such as soy, sesame seeds, and almonds (including almond flour).

Chickpeas have a comparable level of anti-nutrients to lentils. As such, if you are eating chickpeas or chickpea flour regularly, it is best to ensure they are sprouted or soaked to reduce the anti-nutrient level so you can be sure you are actually absorbing all their wonderful nutrients!

*Refer to the easy recipe for preparing traditional chickpeas and chickpea flour before cooking and baking below.

Chickpea Lectins

Phytic acid isn’t the only anti-nutrient in legumes like chickpeas. Lectins are another to be concerned about. According to Dr. Clyde Wilson:

Lectins are anti-nutrient depleting proteins. They bind to insulin receptors, attack and bind to the stomach lining and they seemingly cause leptin resistance. Leptin is the supervising hormone – the gatekeeper of fat metabolism, monitoring how much energy an organism takes in. It surveys and maintains the energy balance in the body, and it regulates hunger. And leptin resistance is a predicting factor to complications of metabolic syndrome independently of obesity.

The lectins in chickpeas can indeed cause serious gastrointestinal and other issues if consumed in even moderate quantities (4). But there is good news! Cooking or baking breaks down lectins by up to 95%!

As long as you’re not going to be consuming raw chickpea flour, then you are good to go to the lectin department. Only raw vegans would likely be at risk.

Cooking and Baking with Garbanzo Bean Flour

Chickpeas and (gram) chickpea flour has a long history in traditional food and cuisine from multiple continents around the world. Thus, if chickpea flour catches your fancy, then, by all means, use it in your cooking and baking! Incidentally, another excellent choice for a grain-free, low anti-nutrient flour is the tuber cassava (not to be confused with tapioca, its more processed form). Potato starch flour is another good choice.

Consuming gram flour as part of a varied and real foods diet is of little concern and likely will confer nutritional benefits.

That said, here’s the bugaboo to watch out for:

The problem with most modern/processed foods is how food manufacturers take traditional ingredients (like chickpea flour) and process them without traditional techniques that eliminate phytates and preserve/enhance nutrients. On top of that, they might even be packaged in toxic containers.

Watch out! Many commercial/processed besan flours and foods made with it may fit this pattern. Do your homework and find good brands. If you choose to buy chickpea flour, stick with roasted and similar varieties that have reduced lectin and phytate content.

Making your own garbanzo flour is always the best and most nutritious way to go. Below is a simple recipe on how to make chickpea flour with soaked chickpeas if this is something you would like to tackle. Note that it is best to never use the chickpea cooking water for making the egg replacement aquafaba. This liquid is full of anti-nutrients and there are health risks from consuming it as well.