How easy is it to make popadoms?

I know you use urid flour (which I do have) but the last time I tried to make them I followed a video that I came across online by a French girl and the result was less than pleasing.

For a start the flour was a pig to clean off the work surface afterwards, and no matter how thin I tried to roll them out they still puffed up when I dropped them in the oil. Instead of being crispy they eneded up chewy and the taste was really bland.

Is there an easier way to make popadoms?

I think the general advice is leave it to the proffesionals... but maybe someone will know ?

Steve

There are recipes on the web but they do seem quite a palaver. I think it would be difficult to get them thin enough in a domestic kitchen and then the best popadoms are best sun dried - not easy in our current weather!

Afraid I continue to buy them from the shop and get the best results by the microwave method.

I wouldn't bother, they are quite hard work to make and need a lot of practice.

When I was a young girl, before everything available ready-made, my mum used to make them. We lived on a Sugar factory campus, my father was a sugar chemist. My mum and her friends used to have Papad (popodoms to you) parties, where all the women of the campus were invited. They came with their circular, wooden rolling boards and special papad rolling pins, which are very slim and narrow. The hostess made the extremely stiff papad dough of various types. They all sat down on their little wooden stools on the ground and rolled papads out, in hundreds (Indians eat a lot of papads). Then papads were spread out on 6 yard cotton saris spread out on wooden frame cots, strung with Hessian ropes (so the air circulated from below. They were left to dry in part shade, part sun, covered with another cotton sari on top. There were several cots to allow all papads to dry out. Once completely dry, they were stacked and stored.

So, forget it!

Rolling Pin: http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2espicesofindia%2eco%2euk%2fcgi%2dbin%2fss000001%2epl%3fSS%3dchakla%26PR%3d%2d1%26TB%3dA%26SHOP%3d&WD=pin%20rolling&SHOP=%20&PN=Rosewood%2dChapati%2dRolling%2dPin%2ehtml%23aKTW081#aKTW081

Rolling Board: http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/cgi-bin/ss000001.pl?SS=chakla&PR=-1&TB=A&SHOP=

Sorry, you have to copy and paste the first link, it doesn't work otherwise!

I agree, too much messing around. I will continue buying them.

Thanks.

I found this earlier: How to make popadoms

These pictures just prove the point that making them is a waste of time. They look more like chapatties than popodoms! Popodoms have to be pepery thin, or they are not crisp.

Winton, yeah I know what you mean about the microwave method. I find that the best way to cook them is to nuke 'em in the dinger. No oil and it takes seconds to do.

Either way, after what Mamta has said about making them I really don't think I could be bothered to go through the rigmarole. (Twenty bags of urid flour later.)

Best to buy them in Tesco LOL.