(Deep Fry) Papads in Microwave !!!

Sounds crazy?

We all love Papads (or Appalam)  either as a snack, or as an accompaniment with our meal.  Best tasting papads are the ones that are deep fried, but due to health reasons you do not want to deep fry them, or you do not want to waste so much oil just to fry few papads.

Many of you know that you can cook papads in microwave.  It cooks papads dry though.  It closely resembles what we call “sutta appalam” in Tamil.  We used firewood to cook food when I was young.  When my mom finished cooking, sometimes she would cook the papads over the fire chunks.  The roasted papads would taste divine with Vathal Kulambu or Rasam, especially on a rainy day!

It is OK to occasionally indulge in deep fried papads; or you can try this “simple” technique I have described below to cook papads in microwave and they will taste almost as if you have deep fried them in oil!

• Take a china plate, spread the papads and use an oil spray can and spray all over (Please for God’s sake do this spraying business over the kitchen sink so that you do not inadvertently spray over the counter.  I did this few times over the counter and my wife was not happy with the oily mess as it is harder to clean…). 
• Flip the papads and spray oil on the other side too. Now cook in microwave for about a minute or minute and a half, watching and taking it out earlier if fully cooked (cooking time varies depending on microwave setting and how many papads you try to cook). You might have to experiment few times to get your cooking time right…
• If you do not have an oil spray, you can also drizzle some oil and spread it on both sides of the papads using your fingers.

The microwaved papads will taste very close as if you have deep fried them in oil!

Personally I like thicker, Kerala style papads or Pepper Papads (Milagu  Appalam).  I also love the “Appala Poo” (Papad strips).

Hope you enjoyed my kitchen tip of the day!