Papadam

For the 2009 film, see Papadom (film).

Papadums

Jackfruit papadums from Bangalore, India
Alternative names	Papad, papar, pampad, happala, poppadam, appalam
Place of origin	India
Main ingredients	Lentils, black gram, chickpeas, rice flour
Variations	Rice or potato papad
Cookbook: Papadums   Media: Papadums

Papad, (also known as papad in Northern India, (Urdu: پاپڑ), pappadam (പപ്പടം) in Malayalam, happala in Kannada, appalam in Tamil, Papad (පපඩම්) in Sinhala, appadum (అప్పడం) in Telugu, pappadum or poppadom in the UK) is a thin, crisp Indian preparation sometimes described as a cracker. It is typically served as an accompaniment to a meal in India. It is also eaten as an appetizer or a snack and can be eaten with various toppings such as chopped onions, chutney or other dips and condiments. In some parts of India, it is served as the final item in a meal.

In certain parts of India, raw papadums (dried but unroasted) are used in curries and vegetable preparations.

Etymology

Papadum is a loanword from Malayalam പപ്പടം or Tamil பப்படம் pappaṭam. Both Tamil pappaṭam and Hindi-Urdu पापड़ پاپڑ pāpaṛ are derived from the Sanskrit word पर्पट parpaṭa, which is the name of a medicinal plant, and is also defined as 'a kind of thin cake made of rice or pease-meal and baked in grease' or 'a thin crisp cake'.

Appadam is the word for papad in Telugu. In the Tulu language, spoken in coastal Karnataka, it is called appala. In the Kannada language, a papad is referred to as a happala, and is often made with black gram, jackfruit, and tapioca.

Alternative names for papadum
pāpaṛ	pappad	papparde	pappadom
pappadum	popadam	pompadum	poppadam
poppadom	appadum	appalum	appala
appoll	papari	pamporo	puppodum
pampad	happala	"popper"

Regions

Rolled spicy papadums India.

As papadums are an important part of Indian cuisine, recipes vary from region to region and family to family. They are typically made from flour or paste derived from either lentils, chickpeas, black gram (urad flour), rice, or potato.

In Kerala, guruvayoor pappadums are very popular as an ingredient of Kerala Sadhya. In Kerala, people from the Pandaaram caste prepare pappadums. In North India, the lentil variety is more popular and is usually called 'papad'.

Salt and peanut oil are added to make a dough, which can be flavored with seasonings such as chili, cumin, garlic, or black pepper. Sometimes baking soda or slaked lime is also added. The dough is shaped into a thin, round flatbread and then dried (traditionally in the sun), and can be cooked by deep frying, roasting over an open flame, toasting, or microwaving, depending on the desired texture.

In most curry houses in the United Kingdom and Australia, they are served as a starter alongside dips which often include mango chutney and lime pickle.

Ingredients and preparation

Papad can be prepared from different ingredients and methods. Arguably the most popular recipe uses urad dal or blackgram. Blackgram flour is mixed with black pepper, salt and then mixture is kneaded together. A well kneaded mixture is then flattened in thin rounds and kept for sun-drying. Once dried, papad can be stored for later consumption. Papad may also contain rice, jackfruit, sabudana, etc. as main ingredients. To achieve different tastes, cracked black pepper, red chilli powder, asafoetida, cumin seeds, or Sesame seeds are used as flavouring agents.

Business

File:Lijjat Papad pack.jpg

The Rabbit mascot on the Lijjat Papad packing

Papad is often associated with the feminist empowerment of women in India. Many individual and organized businesses run by women produce papad, pickles, and other snacks. This provides them regular income from minimal financial investments. Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad is an organization owned and run solely by women that produces large quantities of papadums on the open market which started as a small business in the late 1950s, and now has an annual income of over Rs.3.15 billion, or just under $80 million US dollars.

Spelling

Some divergence of transliteration may be noted in the third consonant in the Hindi/Urdu word pāpaṛ. The sound is the retroflex flap [ɽ], which is written in Hindi with the Devanagari letter ड़, and in Urdu script with the Perso-Arabic letter ڑ. Although in IAST the Hindi letter ड़ is transliterated as <ṛ>, popular or nonstandard transliterations of Hindi use <d> for this sound, because etymologically it derives from ड /ɖ/. The occurrence of this consonant in the word pāpaṛ has given rise to two alternative spellings in English: papad, which reflects its etymology, and papar (anglicized as "popper"), which reflects its phonology.

Gallery

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  A stack of roasted papadums, ready to be served.
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  Rice papadum
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  Deep fried papad at an expo in Guntur.
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  Paparis served in Lisbon, Portugal.