What is Besan?

Besan is a type of Chickpea flour milled from hulled roasted Desi Chana (Cicer arietinum). Cicer arietinum is darker than C. mediterraneum and C. eurasiaticum
Besan is also called Patani or Chana Powder. Besan is only second flour to whole wheat Atta used in Indian Cuisine.

What type of chick peas are used to make Besan?

There are two basic varieties of chickpeas: Desi Chana, and Kabuli Chana.

Kabuli Chana is pinkish white larger variety of chickpeas. In United States Chickpeas and Garbanzo beans are same as Kabuli Chana.

Kabuli Chana is milled to make Chickpea flour.

This Chickpea flour is not Besan. It is used in some European cooking.

Desi Chana is smaller than Kabuli Chana, and is a yellowish in color. Desi Chana (Cicer arietinum) is used to make Besan. Desi Chana is slightly roasted before milling it into Besan.

Lightly roasted Desi Chana is milled to make Besan

Routinely, Besan is also called Chickpea flour

What are different varieties of Besan?

The roasted Desi Chana is milled for various grades of coarseness from very fine like Maida (All-purpose flour) to gritty like Sooji (Farina). Professional cooks in India may use up to five different grades of coarseness of Besan.

Fine or Superfine is the most common grade used at home as an Atta to make Missy Roti, or Cheela.

You need grittier grades to make Laddoo, or Halwa. This is normally sold as Laddoo Besan