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Papdi chaat

Crisp wafers with potato and chickpeas

पापड़ी चाट: crisp homemade wafers layered with potato, chickpeas, sweet yogurt and chutneys, Delhi style

Papdi chaat is the plate Delhi orders without thinking about it, from the stalls outside Bengali Market to wedding buffets. Small, flaky wheat wafers called papdi are laid flat, topped with potato and chickpeas, drowned in sweetened yogurt and streaked with tamarind and green chutney, so you get crunch and creaminess in the same spoonful. Homemade papdi, crisp with ajwain, are far better than shop ones and keep for a week in a tin, though bought papdi will do on a busy day. Chef's tip: rub the oil into the flour until it holds together when squeezed; that shortening is what makes the papdi flaky rather than hard.
Total time
45 min
Difficulty
easy
Serves
4
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Ingredients

Serves4

For the papdi

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What you'll need

Fresh ingredients (5)

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Method

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  1. Step 1: Mix 5 ½ oz plain flour, 2 tbsp fine semolina, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp ajwain (carom seeds) (crush it between your palms first to release its scent). Rub in 2 tbsp vegetable oil with your fingertips for 2 minutes until the mixture clumps when squeezed.

    3 min
  2. Step 2: Add ¼ cup cold water a little at a time and knead into a firm, tight dough. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.

    12 min
  3. Step 3: Roll the dough out about 2mm thick and cut into 4–5cm rounds with a cutter or glass. Prick each one several times with a fork so they don't puff up like puris.

    8 min
  4. Step 4: Heat 2 cups vegetable oil in a kadhai over a medium heat to about 325°F, when a scrap of dough rises slowly with gentle bubbles. Fry the papdi in batches for 4–5 minutes, turning, until pale golden and crisp. Frying them in very hot oil is the usual mistake: they blister and brown outside but stay soft in the middle. Drain and cool completely; they crisp further as they cool.

    15 min
  5. Step 5: Whisk 9 oz plain yogurt with 2 tsp sugar and a pinch of salt until smooth and pourable.

    1 min
  6. Step 6: To serve, lay 8–10 papdi on each plate. Scatter over 7 oz potato and 4 oz cooked chickpeas and dust with ½ tsp roasted cumin powder, ¼ tsp red chilli powder and ½ tsp chaat masala.

    3 min
  7. Step 7: Spoon over the yogurt generously, then drizzle 3 tbsp green coriander-mint chutney and 4 tbsp sweet tamarind chutney. Finish with 1 red onion, ¼ tsp black salt (kala namak), the rest of ½ tsp roasted cumin powder, ¼ tsp red chilli powder and ½ tsp chaat masala, 1 oz fine sev (nylon sev), ⅓ oz fresh coriander and 3 tbsp pomegranate seeds. Serve at once, before the papdi soften.

Nutrition per serving

Calories
380 kcal
Protein
10 g
Carbs
48 g
Fat
17 g
Fibre
5 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

K
Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does papdi chaat take?
About 45 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?
4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
Is it vegetarian?
Yes. It has no meat or fish.
What can I use instead of plain flour?
Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
What can I use instead of potato?
Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).

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