Recently I posted a recipe for fluffy chickpea pancakes. It was a first recipe I made with chickpea flour and I really loved it, so I recommend you check that one out too. One of my instagram friends saw this post and suggested that I should make pitod ki sabzi, a dish with chickpea flour (Besan) dumplings.

I never really heard of such a dish so I had to google, and what I found seemed kind of interesting. First of all, there are not that many recipes out there as you would expect, nor were they fully vegan. I found out that pitod is a Rajasthani dish that consists of chickpea flour dumplings and yogurt based curry sauce. That sounded compelling enough so I decided to try it out!

It was not that hard to veganize this recipe, all I needed to do is switch dairy yogurt for a vegan one. As you would expect, this is a spicy meal. I myself don’t really respond well to spicy food (according to an Indian chef who watched in disbelief as I cried over a “pinch” of Sriracha in my meal), so I adjusted this one to what I can bear. And I enjoyed it a lot. But if you can handle more, by all means, go crazy with those dried chilies.

Some health benefits

I mentioned these things before in my pancake recipe, but for those of you who didn’t read it, I will write it here again, just to keep you informed. There are some serious health benefits that you can get from eating chickpea flour.

Namely, it is high in protein content, fibers and micronutrients, while being low in carbohydrates and calories. Half a cup of chickpea flour contains 11 grams of protein, 5 grams of nutrients like folate, iron, magnesium and zinc.

92 grams of chickpea flour packs slightly more folate than you need in a day.

Chickpeas contain beneficial antioxidants called polyphenols. Antioxidants are compounds that fight against unstable molecules called free radicals in your body, which contribute to the development of various diseases.

Research shows that it can decrease the risk of getting diabetes, improve the health of your heart, improve the immune system, and help with digestion problems.

It is also said to improve hair growth. And these are only some of the reasons you might want to incorporate chickpea flour in your diet.  I know I will be making this one really soon again.

This pitod ki sabzi is spicy, crispy, vegan and super delicious. I had it for lunch just like this, but in the future I will try to serve it with some rice, that seems like a good combination too.

The good news is that I made a bunch of interesting things like this while in isolation, and I will be posting them soon. I read somewhere that countries in Europe are slowly coming out of the lockdown (or planning to do so at least), and I hope my country will be one of them soon.

I will never reject an invitation to go anywhere ever again, that’s how maddening this experience has been for me. Can’t believe that I am saying this, but I feel like a teenager who is so excited to attend a party (any party, or any gathering, count me in).

There are people (like myself) who have been able to boost their productivity and creativity in this strange time, and that is great! But if you’re not one of those people and if this had an opposite effect on you, if you’re stressed and depressed, feel free to reach out. At the very least, we can complain to one another, that helps too.

Ingredients

For dumplings:

260 g of chickpea flour

60 g of vegan yogurt (I used cashew yogurt)

1 tbsp of oil

½ tsp of cumin

½ tsp of red chili powder

½ tsp of fennel

260 ml of water

a pinch of salt

For the sauce:

3 dry red chilies

1 onion

1 tsp of minced ginger

1 tsp of minced garlic

190 ml of vegan yogurt

1 tbsp of flour

2 tsp of coriander

½ tsp of turmeric powder

2 tsp of red chili powder

½ tsp of garam masala powder

100 ml of water

1 tbsp of lemon juice

a pinch of salt

Instructions

In a deep bowl, mix chickpea flour, chili powder, cumin and fennel. Add the oil and the yogurt and mix well. Add water to the bowl while mixing.  The goal is to get a lump-free batter. Once this is done, heat a non-stick pan and pour the batter in. Cook for a few minutes, and remove from heat when the batter starts to leave the sides of the pan.

Transfer it carefully on a well oiled plate, and let it cool a bit. Cut it into smal square pieces. In a deep pan heat a lot of oil and deep fry these dumplings until they get a golden-brown color. Set them aside

Heat 1 tbsp of oil on a pan (medium heat) and fry the dry chilies for about 20 seconds. Add the finely chopped onion and fry it for a few minutes (until it gets brownish). Then add ginger and garlic and fry for a few more minutes.

In a bowl mix vegan yogurt, flour, chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander and garam masala. Add this to the pan and stir well.   Add 100 ml of water and bring it to boil. Cook for 5-6 minutes.

Add lemon juice and mix well. At this point you can even put the dumplings in and  cook them for a bit.

Serve with rice (while it’s still warm).

If you liked this recipe, make sure you check out my other recipes like:

 – orange cauliflower bites

– crispy tofu in orange sauce

– vegan zucchini bites

Feel free to tell me what you think about this in the comments below, or send me the pictures of your own pitod ki sabzi. If you did something differently, I would also like to hear that, I’d love to see the things you come up with. 

P.S. for more recipes like this and bunch of other stuff, follow me on instagram, @margo_drobi.