Nowadays, flour does not have to be made from wheat, especially if people are looking for more unique and gluten-free options, which is why flour variants like chickpea flour are becoming more popular.
If you want to try chickpea flour in your recipes, you may want to learn what chickpea flour is first. I did some digging, and here is what I discovered!
What Is Chickpea Flour?
Chickpea flour is a type of flour created from chickpeas, but chickpea flour may also be called garbanzo flour. While chickpea flour tastes quite neutral, some people notice a little nutty and bean-like flavor. Many cultures like India use chickpea flour regularly, but many people use chickpea flour as a gluten-free flour alternative.
Do you want to learn how chickpea flour is made, if chickpea flour is the same as gram flour, and what you can substitute for chickpea flour? Keep reading!
What Is Chickpea Flour Made From?
Typically, chickpea flour is created from chickpeas, which may also be called garbanzos hence why chickpea flour can also be called garbanzo flour.
What Does Chickpea Flour Taste Like?
Normally, chickpea flour features a fairly neutral taste, but chickpea flour also has notes of bean-y and nutty flavors.
However, cooked chickpea flour in most recipes may be barely noticeable, especially if there are other stronger-tasting ingredients in your recipe.
What Is Chickpea Flour Used For?
Generally, most people use chickpea flour as a substitute for wheat flour since chickpea flour does not contain gluten.
However, chickpea flour has been a long-time staple in many countries’ food cultures, which includes India, Pakistan, France, Italy, and more.
Normally, chickpea flour can work as a binding ingredient to keep other ingredients together, which is common in recipes like veggie burgers and fritters.
Additionally, chickpea flour makes an excellent thickening agent for stews and soups, especially if you want a gluten-free alternative to flour.
As for baking, chickpea flour is wonderful for making flatbreads since chickpea does not have gluten, so chickpea flour ensures that flatbread stays flat.
Additionally, chickpea flour can be ideal for baked goods that require a tender yet sturdy texture, which can work for most bread loaf recipes, muffins, and even cakes.
How Is Chickpea Flour Made?
To create chickpea flour, raw chickpeas need to be dried first, which can be done via dehydrators, ovens, and more.
Once the chickpeas are dry, the chickpeas get crushed and sifted repeatedly until the chickpeas resemble fine flour.
Can I Make Chickpea Flour From Canned Chickpeas?
You can use canned chickpeas to make chickpea flour, but you will need to dry out your chickpeas first.
If you were to make chickpea flour from canned chickpeas without drying the chickpeas, you will wind up with a mushy paste similar to hummus and you will not be able to use it as flour.
To dry canned chickpeas at home, open your can of chickpeas and rinse the chickpeas well to remove any residue from the can’s liquid.
When your chickpeas are clean, spread the chickpeas on a flat surface like a baking sheet to dry for about 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, you may opt to use a food dehydrator to remove all the moisture from the chickpeas.
Alternately, you can lay chickpeas on a baking tray (be sure to not crowd the chickpeas) in an oven at 150°F for 16-18 hours, checking the chickpeas every few hours and shaking the tray to make sure all sides dry evenly.
Once the chickpeas are fully dry, you can take the chickpeas out of the oven and let the chickpeas fully cool.
In batches, place the cool and dried chickpeas into a blender and blend the chickpeas on high for 2-3 minutes until the chickpeas resemble a fine powder.
Now, use a sieve to sift the chickpea flour to take out any chunks then blend the chunks again and sift, repeating this process with all the chickpeas.
What Is The Difference Between Flour And Chickpea Flour?
What separates chickpea flour from flour is the ingredients since chickpea flour is created from chickpeas while flour usually refers to flour made from wheat.
Due to the difference in ingredients, flour contains gluten whereas chickpea flour is naturally gluten-free.
Normally, chickpea flour features a fairly dense yet soft texture when cooked. Wheat flour’s texture can vary based on the type, but wheat flour usually has a lighter texture than chickpea flour.
Is Chickpea Flour The Same As Gram Flour?
Technically, chickpea flour is not the same as gram flour because they are made from different ingredients.
Chickpea flour is made using dried chickpeas or garbanzos while gram flour is created from yellow gram lentils, and yellow gram lentils are made from split chickpeas.
While they are both somewhat similar kinds of flour, gram flour needs less water than chickpea flour since gram flour is finer.
Additionally, some people note that chickpea flour is slightly more bitter than gram flour, but the bitterness goes away when fully cooked.
However, some people use gram flour for recipes that require light frying (where the gram flour may not be fully cooked).
Does Chickpea Flour Contain Gluten?
Chickpea flour is a naturally gluten-free flour because chickpeas are a type of legume, which does not contain gluten.
What Flour Is Similar To Chickpea Flour?
Other types of chickpea flour, which include gram flour, are similar to chickpea flour since flour like gram flour is made from a different type of chickpea.
What Can I Substitute For Chickpea Flour?
If you are looking for a gluten-free substitute for chickpea flour, you can opt for cassava flour, millet flour, almond flour, oat flour, and quinoa flour.
If you are not sensitive to gluten, you can opt to use all-purpose white flour instead of chickpea flour.
Check out our other articles to discover what bread flour is, what cake flour is, and what cassava flour is.
Conclusion
Chickpea flour is flour made from dehydrated and ground chickpeas, creating a neutral-tasting yet slightly nutty and beany flour.
While chickpea flour has been popular in certain cultures like India for many years, chickpea flour is becoming a popular replacement for wheat flour.