Papadum or Papad (Tamil: பப்படம் Hindi: पापड़, Punjabi: ਪਾਪਡ, Nepali and Marathi: पापड, Gujarati: પાપડ, Template:Lang-kn happala, Assamese and Bengali: পাপড papod, Malayalam: പപ്പടം pappatam, Telugu: అప్పడాలు appadalu, Urdu: پاپڑ‎) is a thin, crisp disc-shaped Indian and Pakistani food typically based on a seasoned dough made from black gram (urad flour), fried or cooked with dry heat. Flours made from other sources such as lentils, chickpeas, rice, tapioca or potato, can be used.
The food is also known as Papad/Papor in North India, Bangladesh and Pakistan; Appadam in Telugu; Appalam in Tamil; Happala in Kannada and Pappadum in Kerala .
Papadums are typically served as an accompaniment to a meal in India, or as an appetizer or snack, sometimes with toppings such as chopped onions, chopped carrots, chutneys or other dips and condiments. In certain parts of India, papadums which have been dried but not precooked are used in curries and vegetable dishes.
Papadum is a loanword from Tamil பப்படம் pappaṭam.
In Kerala, guruvayoor pappadums are very popular as an ingredient of Kerala Sadhya. In Kerala, people from the Pandaaram caste prepare papadums. In North India, the lentil variety is more popular and is usually called 'papad'.
Papad can be prepared from different ingredients and methods. Arguably the most popular recipe uses urad dal or blackgram. Blackgram flour is mixed with black pepper, salt and then mixture is kneaded together. A well-kneaded mixture is then flattened into thin rounds and kept for sun-drying. Once dried, papad can be stored for later consumption. Papad may also contain rice, jackfruit, sabudana, etc. as main ingredients. Cracked black pepper, red chilli powder, asafoetida, or cumin or sesame seeds are often used as flavouring agents.
Papad is often associated with the empowerment of women in India. Many individual and organized businesses run by women produce papad, pickles, and other snacks. This provides them regular income from minimal financial investments. Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad is an organization owned and run solely by women that produces large quantities of papadums on the open market which started as a small business in the late 1950s, with an annual income in 2005 of about Rs.6.5 billion, or US$100 million. However, with the recent growth of modern trade in India and the growing consumer awareness, modern culinary brands like Happy Times have been gaining in popularity within this category.
Some divergence of transliteration may be noted in the third consonant in the Hindi/Urdu word pāpaṛ. The sound is the retroflex flap [ɽ], which is written in Hindi with the Devanagari letter ड़, and in Urdu script with the Perso-Arabic letter ڑ. Although in IAST the Hindi letter ड़ is transliterated as <ṛ>, popular or nonstandard transliterations of Hindi use <d> for this sound, because etymologically it derives from ड /ɖ/. The occurrence of this consonant in the word pāpaṛ has given rise to two alternative spellings in English: papad, which reflects its etymology, and papar (anglicized as "popper"), which reflects its phonology.
A stack of roasted papadums, ready to be served.
Deep fried papad at an expo in Guntur.
Paparis served in Lisbon, Portugal.
^ "poppadom, n." OED Online. December 2006. Oxford University Press.<http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/147794?redirectedFrom=poppadum#>.
^ World Bank. "Empowering Women in Urban India: Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad" (.PDF). Empowerment Case Studies. World Bank. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
^ Malathi Ramanathan. "Grassroots Developments in Women's Empowerment in India: Case Study of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad (1959–2000)" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-01-15.
^ "organization - The Beginning". Lijjat. Retrieved 2006-02-04.