Papadums (Using) Recipe - Cooking Index
Papadums (Using) Recipe - Cooking Index
| 6 | Papadum | |
| Veg oil for deep frying | ||
| (optional) |
Called papadum in South India and papar in the North, these thin wafers (generally made out of dal but occasionally out of potatoes and sago as well) are served at most vegetatian meals. Southerners often crush them toward the end of the meal and then mix them with rice, yogurt, and pickles for a simple finale. North Indians prefer to nibble them along with their meal, dipping them now and then into the yogurt for a variation. Both Northerners and Southerners have developed the habit of serving papadum as a convenient cocktail snack. Although members of my grandmother`s generation did, now and then, make their own papadum- I rember thousands of yellow discs drying on cots set out in a sunny courtyard- very few people make them at home anymore. Almost all grocery stores carry them, nicely rolled out and dried. All that then remains to be done is to cook them. The quickest- and most traditional- way of cooking papadum is to deep fry them. This takes just a few seconds and allows the papadum to expand to their maximum size and turn quite light and airy. Papadum may also be toasted, either in a toaster oven or over an open flame. They are less caloric this way but they do not expand quite as much. Papadum may be bought plain, flavored with garlic, dotted with black pepper or dotted with red pepper.
Frying method: Break each papadum into two pieces. Set the oil to heat in a wok or skillet over a medium flame. When hot, drop in a papadum half. Within seconds, it will expand. ( If it browns at all, the oil is too hot. It should remain a pale yellow color.) Turn the papadum over and cook the second side for a few seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.Do all the papadum this way. If you wish to toast over an open flame, do not break the papadum in half. Turn the flame to low. Hold a papadum with a pair of tongs about half an inch above the flame. As one part of the papadum bubbles and turns lighter in color, put another part of the papadum over the flame. Keep doing this until the entire papadum is toasted.
from Madhur Jaffrey`s World of the East Vegetarian Cooking
Converted by MC_Buster.
Source:
Laxmi Hiremath from the San Francisco Chronicle, 9/1/93
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