Poppadum And Condiments Recipes

PAPADUM WITH RED ONION CHUTNEY AND MINT RAITA

Steps:

• Slice your onion thinly. Really thinly. Cut it in half lengthwise. Set a half down on your cutting board. Cut off the stem end but leave the root end . Slice across the onion so you get half moon rings. Once you are done slicing cut the onion slices in half to form quarter rings.
• Deflame the onion. Takes the bite out of it. Put the sliced onion in a fine mesh strainer. Rinse under cold water for about a minute. Transfer the onion to a bowl of cold water. Let the onions soak in the fridge for 10 minutes. Drain. You can do this when you are making salsa as well. Smooths all the rough edges of the onion. This is a good restaurant trick for anything with raw onions.
• Combine the ketchup, cumin seed, masala chili sauce, salt and amchoor powder. Stir to combine. If you taste it now it will seem pretty spicy. Depending on the chili masala sauce you pick of course. Don't worry. The onions will dilute the heat. And papadum seem to soak up the fire. If anything it could be spicier if that's what you like.
• Fold in the onions. Mix thoroughly to coat the onions with the tomato mixture. If you have time refrigerate the red onion chutney for about an hour to mellow the flavours. It's good right away. It's a little better after it sits for a while. Taste it right before you are ready to serve and adjust the salt.
• Combine all the ingredients except the milk in a small bowl. Stir it up. Now decide if you like the texture.
• If you want it thinner add some milk, a teaspoon at a time, until you get to your desired consistency. Taste and adjust salt.
• Have your red onion chutney and mint raita ready to go before you start cooking papadum. Papadum do not taste good once they cool too much. They are great hot. They are not great cold. Trust me on this one. Nobody will like cold papadum.
• Pick a skillet a little bigger than the papadum. 10 inch diameter is about perfect. Bigger is OK but it takes more oil.
• A good set of tongs is essential here. Have them ready when you start cooking.
• Pour enough oil into your pan to get it about 1/2 inch deep. Heat your oil to around 350F. Use a thermometer. Guessing never works well. If you must guess you want your papadum to cook in about 8-10 seconds and not wind up too brown. Thermometers are way easier. Better food through science.
• Have a plate with some paper towel on it nearby. You are going to need to have it close to the pan or you are going to drip oil everywhere.
• Slip a papadum into the oil. It will start to curl and cook immediately. After around 4-5 seconds grab it with your tongs and flip it. It will be pretty solid so this should be easy. Cook another 3-5 seconds. Grab one edge of the papadum and hold it vertically above the oil to drain a bit.
• Transfer the cooked papadum to the plate with the tongs. I like to have my tongs in my dominant hand and the plate in my other hand when I do this.
• Repeat no more than 6 times. Don't serve cold papdum. Just don't do it. Have I mentioned that?
• Serve the papadum with the red onion chutney and mint raita. Let your guests decide what they want to put on their papadum.

HOMEMADE POPPADOMS

Steps:

• Place the flour in a mixing bowl and stir in the salt andbicarbonate of soda. Slowly add the water, you may not need it all, to form into a soft dough. The dough should be slightly wet and a little difficult to work with.
• Place this dough on a clean surface and pound it with a pestle or something similar for about 10 minutes, flipping the dough from time to time. This s the authentic way of making the dough, which gets better results than simply kneading as the flour is pounded harder together.
• After about ten minutes of pounding, you are ready to knead the dough. Squish and squeeze it in your hands for a couple of minutes. If the dough is still quite wet, add a little flour until you have a very soft and drydough ball. You shouldn't need to add much. If you have a tortilla press, your job of flattening the papads will be much easier. Otherwise, you will need to roll your dough balls out until paper thin on a lightly greased surface. You will need a knife to help remove the papad fro the surface. For a neater appearance, you could also use a round cookie cutter to but I rarely do.
• Dry the flattened papads in the sun, flipping from time to time on wax paper. In the winter, I place them next to a wood fire or electric heater to dry. I have also dried them in a dehydrator.
• When dried out, the papads will still be a bit flexible and not so dry that they snap in two when bent.
• To cook, heat about 10cm/4inches of vegetable oil in a wok or large pan. The oil is hot enough when you can throw a small piece of papad in and it sizzles and floats to the top immediately.
• Cook one or two at a time. They should cook through in a matter of seconds so watch them carefully so that you don't burn them. Transfer the cooked poppadoms to papertowels using tongs and continue cooking the remaining poppadoms.
• These cooked poppadoms will keep in an air-tight container for at least three days.

SPICY PRAWN POPPADOMS

Steps:

• Dry the prawns on kitchen paper and keep covered in the fridge. Lay out the poppadums on a serving platter.
• Before serving, spoon a little tzatziki into each poppadum. Stand a prawn on top, then finish with a scattering of coriander and a light dusting of paprika.

POPPADUMS WITH LIME & CORIANDER DIP

Steps:

• Put the mango chutney in a bowl and chop up any large pieces of mango. Mix with the spring onions, coriander and lime juice. Cover and chill until ready to serve. (You can make this up to a day ahead and keep it in a covered container in the fridge.) Serve the chilled dip in a bowl on a plate, with the poppadums broken in pieces and placed around the sides.