Spicy “noodle” papad

Spicy “noodle” papad 

Papad is the wafer thin, crispy cracker served with rice. This is a way to spice up elevate plain papad to a gourmet dish!!! This is a must-side dish for us with steamed rice cakes aka “puttu’.

Crush dried chilli in a mortar or food processor. Crush or chop the shallots. I add the shallots to crushed chilli in the food processor and pulse it to chop the shallots.

Cut papad into ¼ inch slices with kitchen shears or a sharp knife. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan to deep fry papad. When oil is hot, fry the papad strips in batches.

Remove the oil leaving only 2 tbsp. in the wok.  Add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Lower flame and add curry leaves and crushed red chilli and shallots. Simmer till the onions turn light golden. Take care not to brown onions!!! They will get scorched quickly. Pour the hot mixture to top the fried papad. Toss gently and serve.