I always love a good challenge, and homemade papadums from scratch is something I’ve been wanting to try to make for quite some time, but they are made with urid flour, something that I couldn’t find here in Spain, even for ordering online.
Last spring I tried out the candida diet for a couple of months. I cut out most grains and sugar, and one of the things I relied on to get me through my snacky cravings was papadums. Unfortunately, the little Asian store where I bought them closed, and I could only find plain, boring, overpriced papadums at the supermarket.
I was determined to make my own, but, after some research, learned they were made with the flour from “urid lentils,” and I had no idea what they even were. I searched online for urid flour, but couldn’t find any that could be sent to me here in Spain for a reasonable cost.
I gave up on the idea for awhile until….
One day I was shopping in a new fruit and vegetable shop run by a Pakistani family, and found bags of urid “lentils” (aka. urad beans). They also had some papadums for sale (These very ones, actually), which I bought, of course, but I also bought some urid lentils for trying to make my own homemade papadums from scratch.
Having participated in the Wondermill grain mill challenge, I have a great grain mill for making flours, perfect for situations like this one. Ironically, most of the time it isn’t used for grains, and I tend to use it mostly for grain free flours.
I made my first batch of homemade papadums with the whole urid bean (lentil), but the peel changed their texture and made them a dark color. The dough was a bit difficult to work with, too, but I was getting the hang of it.
I made the first batch of homemade papadums with whole urid.
They were good, but weren’t what I was looking for.
One day when shopping at a new store, I came across some peeled lentils for sale. I decided to buy those to give making homemade papadums a try. If the urid beans are usually called urid lentils, how different could they be? Right?
Well, not so much.
I told a friend about my plans and she replied, “You know that you can peel your own lentils, right?”
“What!?!?”
I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but I bought myself more urid lentils to give it a try. For some reason I decided that the whole urid would be easier to peel than the split urid (urid dal), so I bought those. (Next time, I’ll probably try the split ones!)
I soaked the urids overnight, and while it was true that you could easily rub the skins right off from the urids, I basically had to go one by one, and it was very time consuming.
Determined to come up with a better way, I smashed the urids just enough to split them and get many of them separated from their skins, and decided that I would rinse the skins off.
It worked, more or less, but still was time consuming because not all of the urids had separated well for their skins, and the skins didn’t float as well as I thought they would. I put the smashed urids in a jar of water, shaked them to help separate them from their skins, and then poured off the water and skins.
Peeling urid beans
The skins didn’t float as well as I hoped, but the process still worked when done carefully because the urids themselves were kept inside by the lip of the jar when I poured the lighter skins off with the water. I repeated the process several times, and then took off the skins of the individual urids with remaining skins. It was easier, but still time consuming. I think that if I had begun with split urids, though, that it would have been much easier.
In any case I eventually ended up with a couple of cups of peeled urid, ready for drying and grinding into urid flour.
If you can find urid flour, or even just peeled urids, do yourself a huge favor and use those!
Peeled regular lentils on the left, peeled urids on the right
After I ground my two types of flour, I was (finally) ready to get started making homemade papadums.
The urid flour on the right is lighter in color than the lentil flour.
Homemade Papadums From Scratch
Ingredients
- 2 cups urid flour
- 1/4 cup water
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. whole cumin
- coconut oil (for kneading and possibly deep frying)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- garlic powder optional, to taste
Instructions
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Mix together all of your ingredients until the ingredients just come together. You want to end up with a stiff dough, so don't add in more water than you need to. You may want to adjust the dough for salt and other spices. I made my first batch with only salt and cumin, but then decided I wanted to add a bit more spice. I added garlic and black pepper to the next batch, but would love to try out more combinations next time. I think turmeric would be a great addition to these!
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Knead and pound on the dough for several minutes. At first the dough will be sticky, but as you knead and pound on it, it will start to come together. You can grease your hands and counter to help keep everything from sticking; I used coconut oil.
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Take sections of the dough and roll them out on the countertop almost as thinly as possible. I used a round cookie cutter to make circular shaped papadums and then took each individual dough circle and tried to roll it out even thinner. (I found it easier to do it that way than to try to roll out all of the dough paper thin.)
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Once you have your poppadum circles ready, you'll want to dry them out so that you can store them. If it's sunny and warm out, you can dry them in the sun. If not, you can use a dehydrator or your oven at its lowest temperature. I used my oven with the fan on, and they dried pretty quickly. As they were drying, I set them aside to make room for new papadums.
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You are now ready to either store your papadums in an airtight container, or prepare them for eating.
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To prepare your homemade papadums, you can broil them in the oven, puff them in the microwave or deep fry them. I tried all three methods, but my favorite was the deep fried ones. The deep fried papadums crisped up instantly in the hot oil, becoming light and crispy, much better than the ones from the store. The broiled and microwaved ones also crisped up quickly, but they weren't as light and flaky as the deep fried ones.
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I followed the process and made homemade papadums with both types of flour. The urid flour made something very similar to the store bought papadums, but better. The lentil flour made a lentil cracker that wasn't as light as the homemade papadums. They were also good, but I liked the papadums better.
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This is the homemade poppadom being compared with a store bought, larger poppadom. Even with as thin as I got mine, the store bought ones were slightly thinner. It didn't present a problem, though.
Would I make them again?
If I could get ahold of either peeled urids or urid flour, most definitely!
Once I had my flour made, the process of making homemade poppadums was actually quite simple, and I loved the results.
What didn’t I love so much?
Peeling all of the urid!!
I’m glad I did it because it was an adventure and a learning experience, but it’s not something that I’d choose to do every day.
Next time I’d love to try other spice combinations, like adding turmeric and maybe a bit of cayenne. Cumin is still my favorite addition to papadums, though!
I hope you’ll try making them and let me know how it goes!
This post is also available in Español.
Visited Singapore and bought some urid (whole) and am not looking forward to the unskinned result, but I think I’ll just live with it because while I am a make it from scratch cook, I’m not that obsessive.
Will also use the prepared papadum in packages, as well. Thanks for the post.
Hi Chris,
I originally tried with the unskinned urid, but wasn’t very happy with the result. That said, yes, removing the skin was a big hassle and not something for the faint of heart.
I hope they turn out well for you!
Can you post more info on how you soaked, peeled, and ground the urad beans please? I managed to get a pack sent to me from England. That is how much I am craving pappadoms.
Wow, Eli,
You’re brave! 🙂
It was a bit of trial and error, really, and it’s been awhile since I did that, so I’m trying to remember.
I probably soaked them for a few hours, enough to get them to swell, and for the peels to loosen a bit. I think if you had halved urad beans, it would be easier. If not, you have to sort of press against them to break the peel so that it will come off easier.
I found that working in small batches was easiest. I put them with water in a jar and shook it as hard and as quickly as I could to loosen the peels, and then filled the jar with water, carefully pouring off the peels that would float to the top. They don’t float as well as I thought they would, but they would go up far enough to be the first thing that gets poured off, leaving the urad beans in the bottom of the jar. It isn’t a quick process by any means. I’d suggest watching tv or something to keep yourself entertained!
Once peeled, I dried mine in the oven at the lowest heat fan setting until completely dried.
I actually have a grain mill, which is what I used in this case to make the flour, but I imagine that a blender would do a good job of making a decent flour too. I use my blender to grind flaxseeds all of the time. If you need to later make it finer, a coffee grinder usually does a good job at making a fine powder. I’ve made powdered sugar, when I needed it at the last minute, with mine.
Luckily for me, I can now get my hand on the peeled urad beans. That really makes the process simple for me. Peeling is a bit of a hassle, but I’m glad I did it and was able to try it out. 🙂
I wish you the best of luck!
Thank you so much! I’ll let you know how I get on!
Great! Looking forward to it! 🙂
Hi Tracy
Pleasant surprise to come across your blog. I believe urad beans have a component which “raises/ferments” their batter. I have eaten papads made of lentils other than urad. In this case
they are prepared with khar ( word used in India which I think is bicarbonate) which helps to raise it
in the frying process. Have you any info in this regard ?
Hello Carlos,
Thank you so much for your comment!
I hadn’t heard about the component you’re mentioning, and I find your comment very interesting! That would make a lot of sense as to why the urads made a lighter papadum than the lentils. I’d have to look into it, as I had no idea. I haven’t been making them lately because I’ve been trying to stay away from so many fried foods, and my microwave, the other alternative to cooking them, broke down. 😛 That said, I’ll eventually do some more experimentation with different legumes to see how different ones turn out. I’ve been curious to see what would happen when a mung bean is used, seeing as they look so similar to urads. 🙂
If you do any experimentation yourself, or find out any more info, I’d love to hear about it!
Great post, thank you for sharing your urid adventure.
Ha ha
Thanks! An adventure it was! 🙂
Hi there. this is a question rather than a comment. I’d love to try this but it’s difficult to get such exotic ingredients where I live. Are urid lentils/beans the same thing as mung beans?
Hi Eli,
The mung beans are a bit different, but they look almost exactly alike when you have them right next to each other.
I’m guessing you could still make a type of papadum with the mung beans, but they’re not going to be exactly like the usual papadums.
I have both at home, and I’ve been meaning to give it a try, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Hi! My mom grew up in India. She said to rub a bunch between your palms after soaking. Rub like if you wanted to start a fire with a stick. Did that make sense? It’s a lot of work. Bravo for making them. I’m Indian American and haven’t tried.
Hi Alpa,
Interesting. So I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one to have done the crazy amount of work to peel them. 😉
If I were going to attempt it again, I’d try her method, but since I can now find the peeled variety, I think I’ll stick with the easy route from now.
In any case, I’m glad I got to see the whole process through from beginning to end. 🙂
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it!! One question though: do you have to dry it? Or can you use it fresh? If you do have to try it, what temp and how long in a dehydrator? Thanks!
Hi May,
I haven’t tried frying them fresh. Perhaps you could try and see how it works?
I dry them because that’s always the way I’ve seen them ready to use when sold, and it’s easier for storing so you don’t have to make them all at once. I’m not sure how they’d hold up fresh.
I dried mine in the lowest heat of my convection oven, but a dehydrator would also work. (I’m not sure what the normal temperature settings are on them.) How long it takes really depends a lot on the thickness of your papadums. I just occasionally check on them, and take them out when they are brittle. I hope that helps!
I just found your blog and I LOVE it. I wanted to suggest an easier way to peel lentils and beans after soaking. Just use your food processor. Pour the soaked beans into the processor with a little water, and pulse 2 or 3 times. Transfer to a bowl and add more water and stir. The skins will rise to the top.
I always peel beans this way.
Hi Adaobi,
Thanks so much!
That sounds like a great idea. I’m not ready to go through the entire process again any time soon, but I’d definitely try your method next time.
I luckily found some peeled ones locally since then and use them for making papadums now. It was fun to see the whole process from beginning to end, though. 🙂
Hello, nice article, thanks. Which kind of oil do you recommend for frying the poppadums in?
Thanks, Pat.
You can really use any oil that you normally use for deep frying. I like frying in saturated oils like coconut oil, lard, or ghee, because they are said to be more stable under the high heat of deep frying, but it’s really up to you. It depends upon what you have had on hand and what you feel comfortable deep frying in. They have turned out pretty much the same no matter which oil I use; they just taste a bit different if you use an oil with a strong flavor. So, I guess the main thing is…Just don’t use an oil that gives off a flavor that you don’t like.
Wow, these look brilliant! Impressive amount of work you did there. Now I know what to do with the urad dal I bought at an Indian market here in Munich! I have a Vitamix dry grinder container so can whip up that flour in no time. Can’t wait to try these!
Hi Gale,
I hope it works out well for you, and that you like them as much as I did.
I was actually lucky this week. I went back to the store and asked if she could order the peeled urid (urad) for me, and she told me she would! I should be able to pick them up this weekend! Yay!
I’m so happy. Peeling them wasn’t very fun, but I’d love to make these again. 🙂
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Wow, totally impressive! 🙂 <3
Thanks, Megan. 🙂
We had dinner at Prune, here in NYC, last night and they put papadom on the table in lieu of bread which I thought was brilliant! I’ll be on the lookout for that flour.
You have inspired me to have a go at making them myself, these look amazing.
Hi Sara,
Do try them. They really are simple if you have the flour. 😉
Those macadamia nut tarts look amazing. They remind me of the pecan pies I used to love as a kid- only better. (And I love making homemade ice cream!!)
Tracy you’ve out done yourself here! I am officially de-throned as the self professed queen of ‘make it from scratch’ My husband LOVES poppadoms can I send him over??
Haha–
One of the links I sent you to the place for gluten free shopping here in Spain interested me because they had peeled urid dal available, but shipping costs were a bit steep for just one item. Too bad the Amazon in Spain doesn’t have them available like the one in the US!!
I really liked the homemade poppadoms, but didn’t love peeling the urids!!
If I buy some peeled urids, I will happily make you all some homemade poppadums when you come over. 😉