Topic: Are Your Poppadums as good as they could be?

[Blondie]

I have been making poppadums to eat before or with my curries for many years and they have been pretty good, but not quite right (where have we heard that phrase before?).

I have always followed the method that gave me the best results years ago and always thought, perhaps it isn't possible to get them just right at home.

The method I used for years is:

Heat some deep oil until when you can drop a small piece of poppadum in and it cooks and expands immediately.  Then hold one poppadum in the oil with tongues for a few seconds until it starts to expand and curl up, and then quickly and carefully turn it over and cook for a further few seconds, remove from the oil and stand vertically in a toast rack or something similar on some kitchen paper to allow oil to drain off.  I must have made thousands like that, but they were never perfect.

UNTIL, recently, I asked at my local what make of poppadums they use.  Rajah they said.  So off I went to find some Rajah poppadums, thinking this might be the difference, as I had never seen or tried them.  Anyway, I found some without much problem.  Just out of interest I read the cooking instructions.  I FOUND WHERE I HAD BEEN GOING WRONG.

HEAT THE OIL TO SMOKING POINT.

That's it (you probably all new this, but I didn't) Now my poppadums do not have that powdery sort of starchy taste and expand to the size of restaurant ones and are lighter.

I then tried my usual brand "Ruby" using the smoking oil method and they turned out just as good.

Hope this helps somebody,

Blondie

[merrybaker]

I read that if you wipe them with a damp cloth before frying, they'll look lighter and the oil will stay clean.? Haven't tried it, though.

[pete]

I sometimes cook a whole packet on a Friday night.
They are difficult to store so I put, any left over, into supermarket carrier bags interleaved with kitchen towel.
I just tie the bags loosely.
I warm the poppadoms, as required, with my microwave and they come out dry, crispy and very tasty.
I don't understand why they stink the house out so bad.
The kitchen smells similar to a toilet after frying them.

[london_lhr]

Hello Pete,

The ingredients used to make poppadums are urad dahl or moong dahl with rice flour added, (depending on the make ), bicarbonate of soda, salt and hing (Asafotoeda). Probably the hing
giving off the smell ?
I actually got the ingredients today to make my own poppadums. After experimenting I will post
my findings for those interested. I know Ghanna would like to know!

Cheers,

Barry.

[pete]

I actually got the ingredients today to make my own poppadums. After experimenting I will post
my findings for those interested. I know Ghanna would like to know!
Cheers,
Barry.

You'll have to use something like a pasta maker to get them thin enough.
I use one for making sheets of fresh lasagne.

[Mark J]

Surely it isnt worth making your own poppadoms!

[pete]

Surely it isnt worth making your own poppadoms!

I can get a packet of 10 for 50 pence.
I can understand the fun of making them but you'll total your kitchen in the process!!

[Yellow Fingers]

I don't understand why they stink the house out so bad.
The kitchen smells similar to a toilet after frying them.

Are you sure you aren't frying PLOPadoms by mistake? ?:

[Yellow Fingers]

I've never fried poppadoms. I just microwave them from raw. 1-2 minutes at 800W, they fluff up lovely and no nasty oil involved. That said there are some that must be deep fried, it says so on the packet, but I give those a miss. Also when I'm eating at a restaurant and I feel like a poppadom mid meal and order it, within a couple of mins I hear a ping and from the waiters' alcove comes one freshly made poppadom.



To the nutter, sorry there's no other adjective that fits, that is going to make their own poppadoms.....respect!

I thought I had tried everything in seeking the authentic restaurant experience, but making your own poppadoms!

I really want to know how this turn out.

[pete]

Also when I'm eating at a restaurant and I feel like a poppadom mid meal and order it, within a couple of mins I hear a ping and from the waiters' alcove comes one freshly made poppadom.

Restaurants precook the poppadoms in oil and either keep them warm in a heated glass container, an oven draw or use a microwave to reheat them.
Hence the ping!
I have cooked them, in a microwave at home, for years.
They are good.
I do prefer the far unheathier version, done in oi,l though