What is a puppodum or papadum? It's not a strange animal like a
platypus or a
peccary. No, it's edible; it's a food. A puppodum is an East Indian or Pakistani flat bread made from gram and rice flour.
Gram flour (not
graham) is made from chick peas or garbanzo beans. It's also known as a
papadum and the flour used can vary depending on the country of origin. I got these puppodums in the international section at my local grocery.
They come dry in a small package and are prepared by frying for 2 to 3 seconds in hot oil. Notice the size below. I chose a frying pan the size of the cooked puppodum to allow for expansion minimizing the amount of oil I needed since I rarely fry foods. The package said to use 2 1/2 inches of oil but I only used 1/2 an inch. The trick is to make sure the oil is really hot so they immediately fluff up and don't absorb much oil. (Don't leave hot oil unattended; some oils can ignite if heated too high). Drain them upright so most of the oil drips off. The package did say they could be microwaved but my experience with microwaving bread products hadn't been good.
See how much they expand; almost double. They are light and crisp; I served them with soup. They can be used like a tortilla for dips, although they break easily. Two puppodums are 48 calories and they contain calcium and vitamin C. A 4 ounce package contains about 15 puppodums. Now that I've tried puppodums I plan to keep them in my cupboard as a staple since they keep well, are easy to make, and low in calories. I noticed the grocery had flavored puppodums; I'll try those next time. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.
