Ingredients
2 cups chickpea flour
1 tsp (5ml) coarsely ground pepper
1 tsp (5ml) ground cumin
1/2 tsp (2.5ml) salt
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1/4 cup (60ml) water
1/2 tsp (5ml) cayenne pepper (for dusting)
Mix the chickpea flour, pepper, ground cumin and salt in a large bowl. Add the garlic and mix well.
Add most of the water and mix into a dough until it is firm and dry. If it becomes too dry, add a little water at a time until it feels the right consistency. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until smooth.
Roll the dough into a log 5cm thick and 15cm long, then cut into 12 equal sized slices.
While rolling out the papadums, keep rolling pin lightly brushed with oil so that it doesn't stick to the dough.
Brush a small amount of oil onto the end of a slice (this is the top) and roll out into a very thin circle of about 15-18 cm - the papadum should be very thin. Ease the papadum off the rolling pin and lightly brush some more oil onto the rolling pin if it sticks.
Put a light sprinkling of cayenne pepper on the papadum and repeat the process with each slice.
Carefully put the papadums onto large baking sheets and pre-heat the oven for 150 C.
Bake papadums for 15-25 minutes until crisp and dry (keep checking them every couple of minutes after 15 minutes so they do not burn).
Remove the baked papadums from the oven and leave to cool.
Use straight away or store in an airtight container until they are needed.
Heat 3ml of oil in a large frying pan, or skillet, until the oil is hot but not smoking.
Put a papadum into the oil and turn it over when it begins to curl at the edges.
Remove the papadum before it turns brown and put it onto kitchen paper to drain.
Cook all the papadums like this. Serve immediately.
Method
Its going to be curry night on Saturday, so there will be a couple of curry recipes coming up. Ahead of that I thought I would make some of my own pappadoms. I have doen it before and the taste and texture are as good as shop bought or restaurant - and they cost pennies to make, just a little time. So having an evening free I thought I would make some to the stage before they are fried so that I can have them fresh on Saturday.
Like most of these things there is little real reason to make them yourselves, other than an inquisitive mind (how do they make them) and then once you have the technique, the ability to vary the ingredients so you can experiment and make your own. I remember going to a restaurant called Gymkhana in London which was voted best restaurant in Britain in 2014. Being an Indian you had to have poppadoms and pickles before the meal and they brought over their home made ones, 3 varieties each made with different flours and each with a unique flavour. It was a great start to a memorable meal and I recommend it to anyone!
That inspired me to try my own (actually this is a bit of a theme - I built a wood fired oven after visiting River Cafe, more of that another day....) and the ones I made a while ago were pretty easy, very tasty and far cheaper than buying them. SO if you would like to have a try here is a recipe.... Actually this does not work so well in retrospect, hence the low rating. I have done this before but must have been a different recipe - I will try and find it some time. Unless anyone can send me one that works? Sorry for the confusion - reinforces the point about keeping a note of what works and what doesnt (which I guess is what this is in a way....)