Besan porridge
Preparation Time
2 minutes
Cooking Time
10 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Breakfast
Serves 2
Key Ingredients
- Besan (chickpea flour)
About This Recipe
In many Indian homes, sweetened roasted besan cooked with water or milk is an everyday porridge; the roasted flour needs no soaking, and the porridge thins easily with a splash of hot water. This recipe keeps that method and sweetens with jaggery powder, which melts into the hot porridge without a separate syrup.
Roasting the flour before any water is added is what keeps the porridge lump-free: the grains toast and separate, and whisking water into them off the flame gives a smooth paste that never catches. The texture is glossy and pouring, midway between a drink and a halwa, and it sets softly as it cools. A pinch of cardamom at the end is all the flavouring it needs, though a few chopped nuts on top are welcome.
Leave the jaggery out and this becomes a savoury porridge: crackle half a teaspoon of cumin seeds in the ghee before the flour goes in and season with salt; that version comes to about 184 kcal a bowl. For a creamier bowl, use hot milk in place of up to 1 cup of the water. Because the recipe uses only besan, it is free of wheat, barley and rye; check every pack if you cook for someone on a gluten-free diet.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Porridge
- Besan (chickpea flour) — 1/2 cup
- Ghee — 1 tbsp
- Jaggery powder — 2 tbsp
- Water — 2 cups
- Cardamom Powder — 1/4 tsp
To serve
- Chopped nuts or raisins (optional) — 1 tbsp
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Serving Suggestions
Eat it warm in a bowl on its own, or with a spoon of ghee melting on top for a richer bowl. A glass of milk or a handful of fruit turns it into a fuller breakfast. For more ways to use the same flour, start with the besan recipes roundup, and if you like the ghee-and-jaggery pairing, the besan halwa is the richer, set version of the same idea.
Tips for Cooking Besan porridge
Roast over a low flame and keep the spoon moving; besan browns quickly and burnt specks taste bitter. Whisk the water in off the heat, never over the flame, or the flour seizes into lumps. The porridge keeps thickening as it sits, so make it a little thinner than you want and loosen it with hot water at the table. Any leftover keeps for up to two days in the fridge; reheat with a splash of water.
Chef’s Note
One bowl of this porridge comes to about 237 kcal, with 7.0 g protein, 30.1 g carbs, 9.5 g fat and 3.2 g fibre; most of the fat is the ghee and most of the protein comes from the besan. The numbers count the full recipe including the jaggery, so the savoury bowl is lighter.
Per serving (approx.): 237 kcal, protein 7 g, carbs 30 g, fat 9.5 g, fibre 3.2 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jun 07, 2026
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