Fried Besan (Chickpea Flour) & Potato Squares

This vegan fried appetizer made with besan & potatoes is crispy & crunchy. If you are looking for a quick & easy snack for your next party, give this a try. 

I had the most fun creating this party snack! I even mentioned it on my Instagram Stories that making this appetizer gave me lot of joy. Just the recipe and technique used to make them was an enriching experience. I had never prepared a snack similar to this one and that is what excited me the most. This truly is a unique snack that is a crowd pleaser for sure! I can say that because I did make it for a potluck and everyone went crazy. It was all gone within of serving. That I think is a sign of a great appetizer that's fit for a crowd. Of course food is the highlight at any party and the first food to come out of the kitchen sets the mood. There is a lot of pressure on the party appetizers as they will make or break your party mood. SO it is essential that the first finger-foods that go out are the best and stand out. Once the guests like the food served, they will relax and loosen up. If cocktails are important in a gathering, so are the snacks served. I always take a lot of pride in my snacks. I enjoy making them but what I enjoy even more is watching it being relished or devoured by my guests! That gives me immense satisfaction as a chef. It is always nice when your guests enjoy the food made by you and are very vocal about it. 

Whenever I am in need of any creative inspiration, I call my Gujju friend. Her mom always gives me some recipe idea. I think, all Gujaratis have a knack of coming up with innovative recipes, in my experience. I would love going to this friend's house for home study during college years. Her mom would make a new snack every time and most of them would be unheard of. It would be her own personal creation and many didn't even have a name. I would always ask what this dish is and she would just shrug it off saying that she just made something using whatever was handy. She was so oblivious to the fact that she was an excellent cook and it was not a big deal for her. I think she felt she was just doing her job. That is true to all moms I think. They do their jobs selflessly without expecting even a compliment back! They don't even realize what wonders they create in the kitchens and each innovative recipe created in their kitchen is worth a shout-out. I was discussing this with my friend the other day. I told her, that if her mom even releases a cookbook I will be her first buyer. We laughed at that because we both knew that this would be so much out of character for her and just the thought oh her going out in public like this would make her tremble. 

This time as well, she came to my rescue when I reached out to her. I was invited for a potluck and since all love the appetizers I make, I volunteered to get some snack for the party. Since I wanted to make an innovative dish for the get-together, I decided to ask my friend's mom. After knowing what ingredients I have handy, she suggested this Besan & Aloo Snack. The two main ingredients in this dish are besan which is nothing but chickpea flour and aloo which means potato. Rest are all basic ingredients that are easily available in everyone's kitchen/pantry. But the recipe technique is a bit different. She patiently explained the recipe to me and also provided all tips and tricks to ensure that this recipe was a success. I was super excited that I had procured a new dish from her. As expected, she didn't really have a name for this dish and told me to come up with a name. Even though I know very well that she will not be able to read this post (as she is uneducated), I would still like to thank her on this platform and dedicate this post to her. It's her recipe that I am sharing with you today. Hope you too enjoy this dish as much as I did and you do try it at your next event or gathering. It is a very simple and quick recipe. 

The first step is to add chickpea flour/besan in a mixing bowl. Add chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt, cumin seeds and ajwain/carom seeds. Mix all the masala together and then add little water first. With a whisk/spoon give it a good mix so that there are no lumps formed. Then add the remaining water and make a thin batter. Add mixed herbs to it and mix. Heat oil in a nonstick pan and pour this thin batter onto the pan. Immediately begin to mix it and lower the flame. In about 2-3 minutes, this mixture will begin to thicken and not to the pan anymore. The key is to keep stirring it and cook it on low flame. Once a lump like a mixture is formed take it off the flame. Let it cool down for about 5 minutes and then add boiled and grated potatoes to it. Also add salt, chopped cilantro, and minced green chilies. It will be a little hot but using your hands bring all of this together. Grease a cookie tray or a plate as well as your palms. Spread and flatten the mixture evenly (refer to the pic above). Freeze it for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil for frying. Take out the tray from the freezer, cut in squares. You can cut them in any shape you want. Fry the squares on medium flame. It should turn golden on both sides. Soak the excess oil using a paper towel. Serve them hot with chutney/ketchup. These Besan & Potato Squares are crispy, crunchy, and extremely flavorful. 

To make it light, you can also bake these squares at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or till they get light brown and crisp. 

Use a silicone spatula when cooking the chickpea batter. Use it to scrape the sides and keep stirring it continiously. Keep the flame on low to medium. 

You can also deep fry these squares till they turn golden. Baking and air-frying is also possible. 

Fried Besan Potato Squares

Spicy Besan (chickpea flour) Potato Squares is one of the best Indian vegan snacks for a party! This delicious, crispy, and crunchy snack is quick and easy to make.

3.60 from 5 votes

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Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: Asian, Indian

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 20 pieces

Calories: 46.97kcal

Author: Priya Lakshminarayan

Equipment

pan

Frying pan

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 potato
• ▢ 100 gms besan/chickpea flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoon chilly powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ 2 teaspoon ajwain/carom seeds
• ▢ salt
• ▢ 400 ml water
• ▢ 2-3 tbsp oil
• ▢ ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
• ▢ 5-6 green chillies
• ▢ ½ cup oil for frying

Instructions

• Before you begin, boil, peel and grate the potato. Keep it aside for now.
• The first step is to add chickpea flour/besan to a mixing bowl.
• Add chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt, cumin seeds, and ajwain/carom seeds. Mix all the masala together.
• Add half of the water first. With a whisk/spoon give it a good mix so that there are no lumps formed. Then add the remaining water and make a thin batter.
• Heat oil in a nonstick pan and pour this thin batter onto the pan. Immediately begin to mix it and lower the flame.
• In about 2-3 minutes, this mixture will begin to thicken and not stick to the pan anymore. The key is to keep stirring it and cook it on low flame.
• Once it comes together like a dough mixture, take it off the flame.
• Let it cool down for about 5 minutes and then add the grated potatoes to it.
• Also add salt, chopped cilantro, and minced green chillies. It will be a little hot but using your hands bring all of this together.
• Grease a cookie tray or a plate as well as your palms. Spread and flatten the mixture evenly. The thickness can be a quarter or half an inch. Freeze it for 15-20 minutes.
• Take out the tray from the freezer, and cut it into squares. You can cut them in any shape you want.
• Heat oil for frying. Shallow-fry the squares on medium flame. It should turn golden on both sides. Transfer to a plate with paper towels to soak off the excess oil.
• Serve the Besan Potato Squares hot along with some chutney, ketchup, mayo, or any other condiment of your choice.

Notes

You can add more spices, greens, and fresh/dried herbs of your choice to give this spicy Indian potato besan snack more flavor. The consistency of the lump-free batter should be very thin like buttermilk.

Use a silicone spatula when cooking the chickpea batter. Use it to scrape the sides and keep stirring it continuously. Keep the flame low to medium. 

Freezing the squares for a couple of minutes is a key step. Do not skip it. When shallow frying, do not be in a hurry to flip it. Once the edges turn light brown, flip them carefully.

Nutrition

Serving: 2pieces | Calories: 46.97kcal | Carbohydrates: 5.98g | Protein: 1.49g | Fat: 1.95g | Saturated Fat: 0.15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.57g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 46.13mg | Potassium: 98.53mg | Fiber: 1.46g | Sugar: 1.02g | Vitamin A: 82.1IU | Vitamin C: 3.56mg | Calcium: 7.01mg | Iron: 0.54mg

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