Papadam facts for kids
A papad is a thin, crispy snack from India. It's like a flat, round cracker! People make it from different types of flour, often from lentils, chickpeas, or rice.
Papad can be cooked in a few ways. You can fry it in oil until it's super crunchy. Or, you can cook it with dry heat, like flipping it over a flame or toasting it. This makes it crispy too.
People in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Caribbean love papad. They often eat it with their main meals, or as a tasty snack before food. Sometimes, it comes with yummy dips like chutneys, or toppings like chopped onions and chili peppers. You can even find papad used as an ingredient in some curries!
Fire-toasted papad
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| Alternative names |
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|---|---|
| Course | Appetizer/ side dish |
| Place of origin | India |
| Region or state | South Asia with region variations |
| Main ingredients | |
| Variations |
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What's in a Name?
The word papad comes from an old Sanskrit word, parpaṭa. This word means a flat, round disc.
Papad has many different names across India! For example, it's called appalam in Tamil. In Kannada, it's happala. You might hear it called pappadam in Malayalam or appadam in Telugu. In Marathi, Punjabi, and Gujarati, it's simply papad.
How Papad is Made
Papad recipes can be different depending on the region or even the family making them. But they usually start with flour or a paste from plants. Common ingredients include lentils, chickpeas, black gram, rice, or potatoes.
To make the dough, people add salt and sometimes peanut oil. They might also add yummy seasonings. These can be chili for a bit of spice, cumin for a warm flavor, garlic, or black pepper. Sometimes, a tiny bit of baking soda is added to make them light.
The dough is then rolled into thin, round flatbreads. Traditionally, these are dried in the sun. Once dry, they can be stored for a long time. When you're ready to eat them, you can fry them, roast them over a flame, toast them, or even use a microwave. The way you cook them changes how crispy they are!
Some places are famous for their papad. For example, Bikaner is known for papad made from chickpeas and green gram. Varanasi makes great potato papad. In northern India, the papads from Amritsar are very popular.
There's a special company called Lijjat Papad in Mumbai. It's famous because it's run entirely by women! It's a great example of how women can work together and succeed in India.
Enjoying Papad
In many Indian restaurants around the world, papads are served as an appetizer. They often come with different dips. These dips might include mango chutney, lime pickle, onion chutney, or a yogurt dip called raita.
One popular snack in India is Masala papar. This is a papad topped with sev (a crispy noodle snack), chopped onions, tomatoes, and fresh coriander leaves. It's a really tasty way to enjoy papad!
Gallery
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Kerala Pappadam
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Rice papadam
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Uradal papadam
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Fire-toasting papadam
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A Nepali thali with papad
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Raw jackfruit papad in coastal Karnataka
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Papadams with chutney are often served as an appetizer at South Asian restaurants around the world.
See also
In Spanish: Papadam para niños
