Microwave Paapad in under 30 secs

I am addicted to crispy, crunchy things. Honestly! With every lunch, I must have something crispy to go with it. And for Indian food, that means Paapad. Popular all over India (aaand in Britain, I hear), Paapads are known by several names – Appalam, pappadam, poppadum, appadam – and come in several flavours. My favourite is Onion vadaam. Yumm!

The only downsides to having them everyday is that they are primarily deep-fried. And unless I’m making a feast for at least 4 people, nothing warrants heating a vat of oil to fry anything.

While they are best served fried – aah I can hear the crackly ‘crunch’ as you crush it or bite into it – it’s not an everyday solution. So what do you do? You microwave it!

I’m sure that you – like me – tried microwave paapad and hated it! It’s hard, not puffed up, sometimes burnt and well, it’s just not the same!

Did you try it with a small dab of oil?

I guess not!

It grieves me to no end that the person who taught me this tip was my husband – the guy who bites his walnuts and spits it into his morning cereal sometimes to avoid washing the knife and chopping board. cue: gasp! I still love him! 🙂

So here’s how you do it:

Take a paapad, use an oil spray (I use Misto) or just a few drops of oil (2-3 drops) on one side, smear it with your fingers or go fancy with a pastry brush. Microwave for about 30secs and you’re done.

Here are the numbers from my microwave:

– Large paapad (0.28secs)

-Small paapad (0.23secs)

– Rice Vadaam (26 secs)

Once you remove the paapad from the microwave, you can use a paper towel to dab away the extra oil.

Remember: Every microwave is different. Watch the time on your microwave the first time you do this. Next time onwards, just punch in those numbers into your microwave for a quick, easy, healthier treat!