Vrat ki Papdi

5 from 4 votes

Made with simple ingredients, these bite-sized crispy and crunchy Vrat ki Papdi (savory wafers) comes together in no time and are the perfect snack with your evening tea or just about anytime in between.

Prep: 10

Cook: 20

Total: 30

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Servings:

Calories: 71kcal

Author: Ruchi

Ingredients

1½ cups Chestnut flour (Singhara flour)
1 cup Tapioca flour (sabudana flour)
½ cup Sama Rice boiled
¾ cup Spinach leaves fresh
- - Salt to taste (Vrat salt - Sendha namak)
¾ teaspoon Red chili powder
1 teaspoon Dried mint leaves
¼ cup Ghee (to knead the dough)
Oil for Frying

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Wash, pat dry, and chop the spinach leaves.
Add flours and boiled sama rice to a bowl. Rub the ghee well into the flour before adding spices and spinach leaves.
Once the flour looks like a crumble mix, add chopped spinach leaves and spices into the flour. Slowly add water to form a firm and tight dough.
Grease a platform.
Divide the dough into 6 equal-sized balls. Take one dough ball and place it on a greased platform.
Start pressing the dough. As you press the gluten-free dough with your fingers, it will spread.
Spread the dough into a circle.
Use a cookie cutter to cut small rounds out of this circle.
The other way to make papdi would be to make small dough balls and flatten them in between your palms.
Remove the extra dough and all that is left is small disc-shaped rounds. Use a fork to prick small holes in the dough to prevent puffing.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add papdis to the hot oil and let fry for about 2 minutes on each side until they turn crispy.
PROTIP – The secret to crunchy papdis is to fry them on a medium-low flame until crisp and golden.
Once fried, remove from oil and drain the deep-fried papdis on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Serve them hot with a cup of hot tea.
Or enjoy it as a chaat.

Notes

Recipe Tips & Variations

For enhanced nutrition — I have used spinach for this recipe, but you can also add methi, kale, and other leafy greens for added nutrition.

For spicier papdis —This recipe uses minimal spices for preparation. However, feel free to add the spices you consume during your fasting (vrat) period for spicier papdis that will delight your taste buds during fasting.

Combine ghee well into the flour — Rub ghee well in the dough to get a breadcrumb-like texture. This is an important step that ensures flakiness in the papdis. You can add spinach and spices following this step.

For crispy and flaky papdis — When rolling the papdis, make sure they are rolled thin. This step will make crispier and flakier papdis.

Preventing papdis from puffing up — Remember to prick holes with a fork when you have rolled the papdis, or else the papdis will puff up and result in soft papdis. Pricking ensures frying crispier papdis.

Prepare tight and firm dough — When kneading the flour, add water slowly, not to add more than required. We need a tight and firm dough for crispier and flakier papdis; therefore, we must carefully add water.

An alternative method of shaping papdis — We have used a cookie cutter to cut the papdis into a round shape. However, you can also shape papdis by simply making small dough balls and flattening them between your palms.

Frying to perfection — Maintaining the heat is the secret to beautifully fried crispy papdis. Set the flame to medium-low for the crispiest papdis with a beautiful golden hue.

Nutrition