Besan Chilla or Cheela also known as vegan omelette is a very tasty, vegan and gluten-free breakfast recipe from India, made with chickpea flour and vegetables.
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Deciding what to make for breakfast every day-something that’s healthy, tasty, quick, and easy is really tough. I am not a person who can have the same breakfast every single day and that too oats. Plus, I also prefer savory breakfast over sweet.
If you eat eggs, then planning breakfast is not that tricky but for vegans, it’s a challenge.
Today, I am sharing a vegan and gluten-free breakfast recipe from India called Besan chilla or Besan cheela. Because of the way it looks, many people also call it a vegan omelet.
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What’s Besan Ka Chilla?
Besan Chilla is a type of Indian Pancake which is made with chickpea flour batter flavored with Indian spices and sometimes vegetables too.
Besan is the Hindi word for chickpea flour.
This vegan omelet is generally served in breakfast but also enjoyed as a snack. You can even have it in your other major meals.
If you want to eat healthy without compromising on taste then Besan ka Chilla is a very good option.
Variation suggestions
The basic besan ka cheela is made just by mixing chickpea flour, water, salt, ginger, garlic, and a few basic spices like carrom seeds, cumin seed powder, and turmeric powder.
I love plain cheela but also like trying different variations of this basic recipe. You can check some of the ideas below:
- Add the puree of any blanched vegetable like spinach, beetroot, peas to make it more nutritious.
- If you are a vegetarian, add grated paneer to make it richer in protein. Vegans may add grated tofu.
- Instead of water, you can also mix any leftover dal with the chickpea flour and make cheela with it.
- Some people complain that they don’t like the taste or smell of chickpea flour. If you slightly roast the chickpea flour in a pan before mixing it with water, that peculiar taste of besan which some people don’t like will go away.
What to eat with it?
Besan cheela can be served with chunteys like coriander chutney, mint chutney, sweet tomato chutney , green mango chutney, or any other dip of your choice.
Vegetarians may also have it with some yogurt or raita like aloo ka raita or mung bean sprouts raita.
You can also enjoy it with tea/ coffee/ or any juice.
Where else can chickpea flour be used?
Chickpea flour or besan is used in a lot of Indian recipes. If you are not sure where else to use this ingredient, then don’t miss to check the following recipes:
More vegan breakfast recipes
If you are a vegan struggling to find easy vegan breakfast recipes then don’t miss to check the following recipes:
- Bread Poha
- Homemade Granola
- Kale and potato sandwich
- Beetroot Hummus and avocado sandwich
- Vegetable Paniyaram
- Rava Uttapam
- Sabudana Khichdi
- Vegan blueberry banana smoothie
- Chocolate and cherries overnight oats
Step by step photo instructions
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Recipe
Besan Chilla
Ingredients
- 2 cups chickpea flour besan
- 2 cups water adjust to get the required consistency
- 1/4 cup button mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 small tomato finely chopped
- 1 tbsp capsicum finely chopped
- 1 tbsp mung bean sprouts
- 1 green chili finely chopped
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon carrom seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder optional
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- Salt as per taste
- Oil as required optional, if using non stick pan
Instructions
- Put the chickpea flour in a mixing bowl. Add water - 1/2 cup at a time till you get beaten eggs or dosa like consistency. Mix well to make sure there are no lumps.
- Now add all the vegetables and herbs. Mix nicely.
- Finally, add the spices and salt. Mix and keep aside.
- Heat a griddle or flat pan. Apply some oil if using. Take around 1 ladle full of batter and pour on the pan. Gently spread on the pan with the backside of the ladle.
- Cook till the top side becomes dry and looks cooked. Flip the cheela with the help of a flat spatula. You may put on a lid on the pan to fasten the process.
- Now, cook the other side also till it gets golden brown spots.
- Take out on a plate and serve with your favorite chutney, dip, raita or just a cup of tea.
Notes
- You can also add the puree of any blanched vegetable like spinach, beetroot, peas to make it more nutritious.
- If you are a vegetarian, add grated paneer to make it richer in protein. Vegans may add grated tofu.
- Instead of water, you can also mix any leftover dal with the chickpea flour and make cheela with it.
- Some people complain that they don’t like the taste or smell of chickpea flour. If you slightly roast the chickpea flour in a pan before mixing it with water, that peculiar taste of besan which some people don’t like will go away.
Delicious!
Thank you.