Papadam

Thin discs of black gram dough dried hard before they are fried or flipped over a flame.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 300 g urad flour, black gram
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• about 120 ml water
• oil for deep frying, or none at all

Method

1. THE DISCS ARE DRIED BEFORE THEY ARE COOKED, AND THEN THEY CAN BE FRIED OR FLIPPED OVER A FLAME. That is the whole shape of this recipe and it is why a papadam is not a bread. Its article gives both halves: the dough IS SHAPED INTO THIN, ROUND FLATBREADS, DRIED, and CAN BE COOKED BY DEEP FRYING, ROASTING OVER AN OPEN FLAME, TOASTING, OR MICROWAVING, DEPENDING ON THE DESIRED TEXTURE. The drying is a separate day's work and the cooking takes twenty seconds.
2. THE FLOUR IS BLACK GRAM AND THE ARTICLE SAYS WHAT ELSE WILL DO. DOUGH OF BLACK GRAM BEAN FLOUR is the first thing it names, with OTHER FLOURS MADE FROM LENTILS, CHICKPEAS, RICE, TAPIOCA, MILLET OR POTATO ALSO USED. Urad gives the one that blisters and shatters.
3. SALT AND PEANUT OIL GO IN WITH THE FLOUR, AND THE SODA IS OPTIONAL. Its article's list is exactly that: SALT AND PEANUT OIL ARE ADDED TO MAKE A DOUGH, which can be flavoured with CHILLI, CUMIN, GARLIC, OR BLACK PEPPER, and SOMETIMES, BAKING SODA OR SLAKED LIME ARE ALSO ADDED. A quarter teaspoon of soda is what makes the blisters bigger.
4. THE DOUGH IS STIFF, AND THEN IT IS BEATEN. Add the water a spoonful at a time: it should be far harder than a bread dough, barely holding together. Then pound it for ten minutes with a rolling pin, folding it over on itself. Kneading will not do it; urad needs force.
5. REST IT AN HOUR, THEN ROLL TWENTY-FOUR DISCS AS THIN AS YOU CAN SEE THROUGH. Grease the board rather than flouring it. Thin is not a preference here -- a thick one stays leathery whatever you do to it afterwards.
6. DRY THEM UNTIL THEY SNAP. Its article's method is the sun. A wire rack in a warm dry room for two days, turned once, gets to the same place: a disc that breaks cleanly rather than bending. They keep for months at that point.
7. TO FRY THEM, ONE AT A TIME IN HOT OIL, FOR ABOUT FIVE SECONDS. It will double in size, go pale and curl. Lift it out the moment it stops growing; brown is burnt.
8. TO DO IT WITHOUT OIL, HOLD IT IN TONGS OVER A GAS FLAME. Ten seconds a side, moving constantly, until it is blistered and dotted with black. Its article serves them with mango chutney, lime pickle, onion chutney or raita, and notes masala papad -- one topped with sev, onion, tomato and coriander leaves.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes