Make Poppadoms

Poppadoms are spicy thin wafers also known as Papad. They are typically served as a side dish in traditional Indian fare, but may also be eaten as a snack with diced vegetables or chutneys. Providing a hearty, crisp texture to meals, poppadoms are enjoyed either warm or cold. Making poppadoms at home can save valuable preparation time and they can be stored for several months. You can make this tasty treat with just a bit of preparation and know-how.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chickpea, garbanzo bean, or Urad flour
  • 1 tsp. (5 ml) ground pepper
  • 1 tsp. (5 ml) ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) salt
  • 1 minced garlic clove
  • 1/4 cup (2 oz.) water
  • 1/2 tsp. (5 ml) cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp. vegetable oil or ghee

For deep frying: 2 cups oil

Steps

Preparing the Poppadom Dough

  1. Place the flour, ground pepper, cumin, and salt in a bowl. Put 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp. of ground pepper, 1 tsp. of ground cumin, and 1/2 tsp. of salt in a large bowl. Though Urad flour is the most traditional flour used for making poppadoms, it can be a little difficult to find if you don't have any luck at your local Indian or Asian markets. If you can't find it, you can use garbanzo bean or chickpea flour instead.[1]
  2. Toss in 1 minced garlic clove and mix well. Use a wooden spoon to thoroughly stir the ingredients together until they are blended. Make sure that the garlic is fairly well distributed throughout the dough. Once you've stirred the dough for at least 30 seconds to a minute, make a little depression in the top of the dough for the water you'll add.
  3. Pour in the water. Now, pour 1/4 cup (2 oz.) water into the little depression you've made.
  4. Mix the ingredients together until a firm, dry dough forms. At first, you should use a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients together, if you wish. As the mixture gets a bit more formed, you can start using your hands. Alternately, you can just use your hands to incorporate the water right away.
  5. Knead the dough for approximately 2-3 minutes or until it is smooth. Now, just use your hands to knead the dough in the bowl until you've made a nice, substantive mixture that you can work with and all of the ingredients are incorporated. The water should help everything stick together.
  6. Break off one walnut-sized piece of dough at a time and then roll it. Use a roller to roll each piece back and forth until it is nice and thin. You should use a lightly floured, lightly oiled surface for best results, so that the poppadom pieces are easier to cook. Many poppadom recipes call for you to actually shape each piece into a circle, using either a shaper or an old CD or DVD to get the shape you're going for, though it doesn't really matter because the shape won't perfectly stay as it is.
    • You can also brush a bit of extra oil or ghee on each piece of dough to make it even easier to cook.
  7. Sprinkle each thin circle with cayenne pepper. This can add an extra spicy kick to your finished poppadoms later on. You can turn the poppadoms over and even sprinkle them with the spice on both sides if you really want to go for the full effect.

Baking and Frying Poppadoms

  1. Transfer the thin pieces of dough onto 2 large baking sheets. Now that you've prepared your poppadoms for baking, all you have to do is carefully place them on a baking tray lined with foil. You can even oil it a bit to keep the poppadoms from sticking. Make sure you leave enough room between each piece of dough so they don't stick together when they expand a bit during cooking.
    • You may need to fit several baking sheets in the oven at a time, or to bake your poppadoms in several shifts if you only have one sheet.
  2. Bake the dough in the oven for 15 to 25 minutes at 300ºF (150ºC) or until the wafers are crisp and dry. Keep an eye on your dough after the first 10 minutes or so to make sure it doesn't burn too fast. The finished product should be crisp and dry, but not so dry that it instantly breaks at the touch.
  3. Allow the poppadoms to cool completely. Set the baking sheet aside and wait for them to cool completely before you fry them.
    • If you are not ready to serve your poppadoms, you may store them in an airtight container once they have cooled.
  4. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Now, you should heat 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml) of oil in a frying pan and wait a minute for the oil to start bubbling a little bit.
    • If you don't want to fry your baked poppadoms and enjoy the crisp and dry baked version, then you can stop before frying them. However, frying your poppadoms after baking them will give you that delightful, authentic taste you may be craving.
  5. Place 1 or 2 poppadoms into the oil and turn them over when the edges begin to curl. This should only take about 30 seconds to a minute on one side, and even a bit less time on the second side. Use tongs to carefully turn over the poppadoms once they have cooked on the first side.
  6. Remove the poppadoms before they begin to brown. This will ensure that you don't overcook this tasty treat.
  7. Place your homemade poppadoms onto paper towels while you continue cooking the rest. Place the fried poppadoms on paper towels to absorb the excess oil while cooking the remainder of the batch.
  8. Serve. Serve this tasty treat on its own or with your favorite dish. You can enjoy them with hummus, chutney, baba ganoush, or your favorite Indian food.

Deep Frying Poppadoms

  1. Heat 2 cups of oil in a deep pan. Give the oil a few minutes to reach a boil. This will get you ready to deep fry the poppadoms.
  2. Place a piece of dough in the oil and let it fry for about 2 minutes. Now, take the raw poppadom dough you've made and place one piece at a time into the oil. Carefully watch over it as it fries. Of course, you can deep fry more than one poppadom at a time if you're getting really impatient, but this can lead to problems because they may fuse together, or you may lose track of one of them and lead it to burn a bit. The poppadom will begin to "pop" out a bit, and will take on a more full, airy texture.[1]
  3. Flip it over and cook it for about 30 seconds on the other side. Once it has cooked on one side, use a slotted spoon to flip it over so that it cooks on the other side. It won't need to cook for as long on the second side as on the first, though you should watch to make sure it is cooked evenly on both sides and cook it for a bit longer or for a bit less time on the second side if necessary. The finished product should be a nice rich golden brown color.
  4. Remove the poppadom from the oil with a slotted spoon. Carefully use a slotted spoon remove the poppadom from the oil. You can hold it over the oil for a few seconds to let the excess oil drip from the bottom of the spoon.
  5. Place the poppadom on a plate lined with a paper towel. The paper towel will absorb some of the extra oil. You can even flip the poppadom over after a minute or so, so that the oil from both sides is absorbed a bit.
  6. Deep fry the rest of the poppadoms. Now, continue to deep fry the poppadoms until they are all cooked to your liking. You may want to line multiple plates with paper towels so that more of their oil is absorbed.
  7. Serve. Enjoy these tasty treats on their own, along with your favorite Indian meal, or even eat them like chips and dip them into a bit of chutney.

Sun Baking Poppadoms

  1. Place the dough rounds on rimmed baking sheets. Take the dough you've made and prepare it for sun baking. Make sure the pieces are spaced far enough apart to give them room to expand a bit without touching each other. You'll need to use at least 2 baking sheets to do this.[2]
  2. Put the sheets in direct sunlight until the rounds are completely dry, for 24-48 hours. To do this successfully, of course, you need to find a warm place with direct sunlight, with a temperature that should be ideally at least 80-85ºF (25-30ºC), if not much warmer. The warmer it is, of course, the more quickly your poppadoms will bake.
    • Alternately, you can dry them in the oven at the lowest possible setting, for around 4-6 hours.[2]
  3. Store the finished product. If you're not ready to serve them, you should store them in an airtight container as soon as you can. They'll be good to go for up to 6 months.
  4. Serve. If you want to serve your poppadoms, either eat them right away or heat them up directly over an open flame or place them on a gas grill just until they're lightly toasted. You can also place them in your broiler, which should be set on high, until they're lightly toasted.



Tips

  • Traditionally, poppadoms are spicy, but you can make plain ones by omitting the cayenne pepper in this recipe.
  • The flavor of this poppadom recipe can be altered slightly with the addition of herbs, peppercorns, or chiles. You may also substitute other lentil or cereal flours for chickpea flour for different textures.

Things You'll Need

  • Mixing bowl
  • Rolling pin
  • Oil
  • Pastry brush
  • 2 large baking sheets
  • Frying pan
  • Paper towels

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.curryfrenzy.com/curry/html/how-to-make-poppadoms.html
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/07/beyond-curry-pepper-poppadom-recipe.html

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