Sometimes an easy and comforting food tends to get lost or ignored in between all the fancy smancy exciting ideas that keep revolving in our head. And it’s good because without inspiration and variety, life can get pretty boring. But once in a while, it’s nice to slow down, stay away from the kitchen and spend more time with the family. Make something light and easy, like this masala papad that doesn’t require too much effort and call it a day!
Served in most Indian restaurants as a complimentary bite along with your choice of drinks, this healthy appetizer somehow doesn’t seem to appeal anyone that much. I have very rarely seen it served in any party and I too usually make it only when pantry/refrigerator runs out of options.
Papad is a thin, sun dried cracker mostly made with lentils. The dough is prepared with peanut oil and salt, which is then rolled out to super fine thin sheets and left in the sun to dry. At times, papad is flavored with spices like cumin, black pepper, chili and asafetida and it is very easily available in any Indian store.
I doubt there is any Indian kitchen that doesn’t store a packet of papad to enjoy with daily meal. Either deep fried or dry roast, it adds a lovely texture when served with a plain meal like rice and lentils, khichdi or even plain soup. And if you are in a mood for some quick snack, try masala papad, if you haven’t already.
A little bit of knife skill is required to prepare the topping, which is typically a mix of red onions, cucumber, tomatoes and cilantro. It looks more appealing and is also easy to handle when all the ingredients are thinly sliced of almost equal size. Raw mangoes, green tomatoes or some fruit of your choice would definitely add a great variety. Both the toppings and the roasted papad can be made couple of hours in advance. But once the topping is spread on the papad, it should be served immediately.
Masala Papad
Ingredients
- 6 mini papad
- 1 medium red onion (very finely chopped)
- 1 medium tomato (seeds removed and very finely chopped)
- 1 raw mango (very finely chopped)
- 1 cucumber (seeds removed and very finely chopped)
- 1 cup finely chopped cilantro
- 2 green chilies (finely chopped (optional))
- juice of ½ lemon plus more to sprinkle on top while serving
- salt
- pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon chat masala plus more to sprinkle on top while serving
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients except the papad in a serving bowl and keep aside.
- For dry roasting, place the papad on a stove top at medium heat and using a tong, flip every two seconds until it’s roasted completely. Or you could place the papad in a microwave by keeping it in high for about a minute or so. However, the papad can curl up in a weird shape when roasted in a microwave.
- Spoon the topping on the roasted papad.
- Sprinkle some more chat powder and lemon juice as per your choice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
KiranTarun
Wonderful recipe! I love simplicity in foods that is packed with colors and flavors 🙂
Vijitha
Such a colorful appetizer. I drizzle mint chutney too. One of the quickest starter to serve in parties. I have done that many times 🙂
Lubna Karim
You made masala papad look so glamours dear....feel like grabbing it right now...I sometimes use amchur powder...
Shumaila
Your photography and styling is absolutely beautiful! I love masala papad and those pictures just make me wish I could be there with you munching on the papads while you shot your way through!
Nupur
Lovely post.. and how can you add so much of elegence with just the random pictures.. Specially the one of just the stack of Papads.. wonderful !
Jacqueline
Absolutely delicious - fresh, healthy, spicy and tasty. I would love a plate of this right away. Do you do delivery?
Color and Spices
Everytime I go through your blog....I simply eat thru the pics...wish I could learn some food photography from you..
debjani
Memories came rushing down as I read your post. So many snipets of life that surround itself to papad. Khichuri and papad, Roth Jatra and papad, potato papad from South India, my Dida's papad torkari, my little nephews love for papad and my little one who has never had papad yet. I will be thinking about them for a while.
A successful blogger is one who evokes and inspires, in my opinion. You should know.
Kankana Saxena
thank you Deb 🙂 Papar torkari .. I had totally forgotten about it. Ma ke jigesha korte hobe.
Meeta
I love papad and funnily scoop it up with salads and salsa all the time. The simple things are always the most satisfying! Delicious Kankana!
nisha
you wont believe it, i had masala pappad for the first time in a south indian restaurant recently and that too because the table next to ours ordered it and i was wondering what it was 😉
I loved the whole idea of serving them as starters. Here we get small pappad (poppadoms as they call it) in packets which are used as a starter basically but we religiously use it with biryanis and stuff. That would be perfect bite size starters for this recipe. Thanks a bunch kankana bookmarked it 🙂
Eha
Lovely tidbit to pop in the mouth 🙂 ! Love the Indian type salsa so simple to make - thanks for the tip!!
Nami | JOC
Simple dish but it's a beautiful appetizer! It might be simple and easy to you but your photography help inspiring us to make it at home!
Arch
This used to be such a popular appetizer in Bangalore restaurants many many years back. The waiter would always suggest it, and if you didn't order, he'd still insist on it and look very disappointed if you didn't order it...I had also seen it in a very upmarket restaurant once, where they stacked about 10 papads with these toppings - it looked beautiful and so very appetizing !
I love love love your photography, you make everything look so good 🙂
Nisha
You're right, it's actually so simple it doesn't even require a recipe! 😀
I love some pomegranate too on my masala papad. Sour raw mango, salty papad, sweet pomegranate, along with other veggies and spices ... amalgamation of all kinds of tastes & flavors ...... arre yaar, mooh mein paani aa raha hai! 😀
Vimitha
I love this when served in dhabas... Looks so crunchy...
Rosa
Those look terrific! I love healthy food that tastes amazingly good.
I am a fervent defenser of "simple food.
Cheers,
Rosa
Sonia
So agree with your first two lines. Sometimes simple food get lost around trying with other fancy cuisines and dishes. You made simple papads so sexy and spotlighted! 🙂 Yaar, husband ke liye bahot papad sheke (bele) hain!! 😀
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
How beautiful, what a lovely appetizer!
Grishma @Zaikazabard
beautiful clicks!! Normally I am not a fan of masala papad, but after looking at ur pics I want to have one - right now 🙂 hehe
Reem | Simply Reem
Love it!!
I can eat this as breakfast, lunch, dinner and repeat!!!
P.S I"ll email u the link by morning my email server is down babe!