Pappada Vada

                                       Pappada Vada is a very famous evening snack among Kerala Konkanis which is prepared using Kerala Papads. This is very tasty and remains fresh  a long time – Of course, if your family members allow it to be so 😄 At my house, it gets over in no time 😉😄😋. Even though many may think this is a Keralite snack – this is very popular with Amchis for generations , This is most in demand during festival seasons  & temple festivities  draw near , This will then be made in large quantities to be served to all the guests who would call at home  and eagerly relished . Since this is a simple recipe & a very tasty one ..this is most popular with all to make quickly & in large quantities
My Mom makes a variety of snacks like Chakuli, Rontos etc and Pappada vada is one of her specialty. She prepares the Papad herself in order to prepare the Pappada Vada. When we hear the name “Vada”, we think about Udid Vada / Dal Vada which ideally should be consumed within a few hours of preparation to be tasty. However, Pappada vada falls in the category of crispy snacks like Chakuli, Chips etc. The recipe is from my Mom; My elder Sister – Jyothi prepared it while I captured it in the camera.
Pappada Vadas prepared by me using Kerala Papads bought from outside Kerala

Ingredients:-
  • Raw Rice  – 2 Cups
  • Red Chillies – 8 of Spicy Variety Chillies and 4 of Byadgi variety Chillies
  • Turmeric Powder – 1 1/2 tsp
  • Hing / Asafoetida – 2 -3 tsp
  • Besan – 5 tbsp
  • Black Til / Sesame Seeds – 2 tsp
  • Jeera – 2 tsp
  • Kerala Papads – 70  to 80 Numbers
  • Salt – as per taste
  • Oil – for Deep frying
  • Water – As required to make a thin batter
Method :-Wash, clean and soak rice for 3 – 4 hours. Keep ready all the other Ingredients.

Grind together the soaked rice, red chillies, turmeric powder, hing and salt to a very smooth batter. The batter should be thinner than the normal dosa batter.
Pour the batter in to a wide mouthed vessel. Add besan to this batter and mix well. The batter should have thin consistency (as shown in the pic). Add black Til and Jeera to the batter and mix well . Check the salt and hing and add if necessary.
Sun-dry the papad for 30 minutes or till the time the sides starts curling up. This step is quite necessary; else the papad may puff up in the oil and it would not be crispy once it is fried.
Heat the oil in a kadai for deep frying.Keep ready, the papad, batter and water in a bowl (to wash your hands).
When the oil is hot, keep the flame to low – medium. Dip one papad in the batter and tap it at the side of the batter-container to remove the excess batter and drop it into the hot oil. You can fry up to 4-5 Papads at a time as per the size of your kadai and quantity of the oil used.
Checking if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small amount of batter in to the oil
Turn the Papads frequently and let it cook on both sides well. Remove the papads from the oil when it turns golden brown on both sides. Please avoid frying it for long as it may turn black in color.
Cool and store the Pappada Vadas in an air tight container. Enjoy the Pappada vadas along with your evening tea.
Pappada Vadas prepared by my Sister – Jyothi

Notes:-

  1.  Kerala style Papad is the one that’s best suited to make Pappada Vada
  2. The batter should just get mildly coated on the sides of papad and so make sure not to use very thick batter. If you use thick batter, the Pappada vada may not turn crispy and the shelf life will be less too. Also, if the batter is having thin consistency, it will make frying of Papad much easier.
  3. Please add extra water if you think the batter becomes thick after frying some papads. But also check if extra Hing / Salt / Spiciness is required to retain the taste.
  4. If you are staying in a place where you do not get enough sunlight to dry the papads, you can boil some water in a vessel and close it with a big flat lid. When the lid becomes hot enough, keep papads on top of the lid and turn the sides frequently and dry it till the sides starts curling up.
  5. You can reduce the quantity of besan, but then, after frying, the outside may not be as smooth as you see in the picture.
  6. Mix the batter frequently else all the Til and jeera may go down under in the batter and may not get coated on the papad
  7. Please do not dip the papad for a very long time in the batter. If you do so, the papad will break. Hence, dip only one papad at a time.
  8. Just tap on the middle of the papad with the spatula after a while of putting the Papad in the Kadai to know if it is cooked well or not. You can clearly hear the sound of the tap if it is done.
  9. Using Coconut oil will enhance the flavor and would give the authentic taste
  10. The color or texture of the Pappada Vada may vary as per the brand of the ingredients used ( as you can clearly see the difference in the first and the last pictures uploaded.)

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