Khojana: Exploring Indian Food

Papadum

a.k.a. papad or appalam

A papadum fresh from the microwave.
A papadum fresh from the microwave.

I first came across papadums at one of the restaurants either in Allston or Central Square while I was in college. Promptly after being seated, the waiter brought a small plate with a tan wafer approximately seven inches in diameter and speckled with black grains which turned about to be crushed black pepper. The wafer glistened with a thin coating of oil and its surface was coverd with tiny bubbles having been fried. The black pepper added a bit of tang to the papadum and sort of masked the flavor of the dal which is the primary ingredient. I began to look forward to papadums whenever I went out, but not all restaurants offered them.

According to an entry in K.T. Achaya’s A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food, papadums are “Pulse flour doughs rolled out into circles and deep-fried or roasted to crispness.” 1 They were mentioned in historical texts going back to 500 BC and are made from different dals (pulses). Wikipedia has even more detail and as is so often the case, the ingredients vary from region to region.

A recent package of Punjabi Special papdums.
A recent package of Punjabi Special papdums.
A recent package of Punjabi Special papdums.

Although they were novel, I don’t remember having to look very hard to find them at the Indian grocery stores. I first found a package at a store on Brighton Avenue in Allston. I purchased the Punjabi Special “flavor” by Lijjat. The package displays a pink rabbit and a little boy each enjoying a papadum. A version of this packaging is still used today with some minor updates. Inside were the papadums accompanied by a small circular or rectangular slip of paper which detailed manufacturing details and listed the ingredients — sometimes in multiple languages. The papadums are fragile and crack or break easily. It’s somewhat of a miracle that they survive packing and shipping to stores in the US all the way from India.

As with many things I was discovering at the time, I had no prior knowledge of papadums. But since I was enjoying them, I was curious. Most of the ingredients didn’t really mean much to me yet. The Punjabi Special Papads are comprised of Urid flour, asafoetida, black pepper, salt, calcium carbonate and edible vegetable oil. Urid flour, the main ingredient, produced a blank stare; asafoetida, a complete shrug of the shoulders; and because I was not yet used to how some terms would be expressed in English, I was slightly amused by the phrase “edible vegetable oil.” I mean, I’m glad the oil was edible!

The list of ingredients for Punjabi Special papadums.
The list of ingredients for Punjabi Special papadums.
The list of ingredients for Punjabi Special papadums.

Although, I was just beginning to learn about dal at the time, I did not have an inkling about the different varieties. I would later learn that Urid referred to urid (or urad) dal, and the flour was ground from that the dal. Asafoetida, with its pungent aroma, would introduce itself to me shortly via a dish named Sookhe Aloo which became a great favorite. At least I knew what black pepper was at the time.

To make papadums, first dal is ground and mixed with the other ingredients to form a stiff dough. The dough is cut and the rolling begins. While automation has simplified the process for some manufacturers, the Lijjat papadums are still rolled by hand by a literal army of women who work out of their homes. Each papadum is rolled into a very thin disc and then set out in the sun to dry. From there it is packaged and distributed around the world into kitchens like mine.

Back in my kitchen, I still needed to figure out how to cook these papadums. Upon opening the package, I found very thin flat discs that looked nothing like what I recalled from the restaurants. However, remembering the oil from the restaurant papadums, I concluded that frying them was the way to go. Out came the frying pan and peanut oil. I dropped a papadum in the hot oil and it almost instantly began to curl up into a different shape. And, the finished papadums turned out quite oily. Wait! I thought to myself, they were flat in the restaurant…another mystery for me to ponder.

Next I wondered if I could use a toaster oven. I think I tried this, but my cheap, old toaster oven was not likely to do the papadum justice. I really don’t recall if they came out properly cooked. I could also have even tried to dry roast them in a pan, though I don’t think I did. Eventually I popped one into a microwave and oddly enough found that they crisped up nicely if they were laid flat on a plate and cooked on high for about a minute. They would warp a little, but nothing like the first batch of fried papadums. I adjusted the time for different microwave since you can burn them if they are left for too long. This is how I prepare them now.

Small papads sold as Apalams.
Small papads sold as Apalams.
Small papads sold as Apalams.

For the most part, I preferred the Punjabi Special variety at first. But in the last few years I have tried other varieties and brands. I really like the plain Lijjats and sometimes the garlic flavor as well. However, I have not really taken to some of the other brands I have tried. Especially the small appalams — for some reason, they just don’t do it for me; although I really like their packaging.

Interestingly, I have found a couple recipes that call for papadum as an ingredient. And while I liked them as an accompaniment, I couldn’t quite fathom using them in a curry. Nevertheless, I did try one of the recipes, Papadum Curry, but the results were not memorable. In a different cookbook, there is a recipe that dresses them up with onions and spices “chat style” as an appetizer. While, this one seems more promising, I’m happy to continue to have them plain with my dinner, with a bit of onion chutney.

  1. K.T. Achaya, A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food, (Oxford University Press, 1998) 176–177