Papad ki sabzi is a traditional Rajasthani dish with a yogurt based gravy. This sabzi can be made easily with pantry friendly ingredients.
A sabzi with papad? What? I know this is the question that arises in your mind on seeing the name for the first time. Believe me, even I never thought that a sabzi with papad would taste great until I tasted it. But, something to remember is that always eat it hot with some ghee drizzled over. It tastes AMMAZINGGG!!
Papad ki sabzi is a celebration of simple ingredients and clever cooking. Rather than being fried until golden, the papads are simmered in a fragrant and slightly spiced gravy. This allows them to soften and absorb the flavors of the spices, creating a unique textural contrast between the soft papad and the pops of crispy bits. The resulting dish is surprisingly versatile, perfect with rotis, rice, or even as a filling for parathas.
The scarcity of water and fresh green vegetables have had their effects on the type of cooking in Rajasthan. Because of this, people began to make dishes without vegetables. They depend only mainly on flours and lentils. And hence, the papad ki sabzi!
What kind of papad can we use? So, for this sabzi we can use any kind of dal papads. They can be fried in oil or even roasted in direct flame. I haven’t tried by frying the papads in oil because I always loved the smell and taste of roasted papads. The charred smell and taste gives the sabzi extra flavors! For making this curry, we can also use raw papads. I haven’t tried using raw papads. You are more than welcome to try and let me know how it turns out for you!
I have used onion too in making this recipe. But, you can skip using them. I have just used them for flavors. Because we use yogurt in the gravy, it also has some cooling effects too. On the whole, yogurt with some basic spices and roasted papads is equal to DELICIOUSNESS!
We can serve this papad ki sabzi with phulkas, rotis, parathas, plain rice, or even jeera rice. I guess it goes well with pretty much everything. Anyways, on day-10 of the No Veggies, 21-Day Lockdown Series, we are presenting the simple yet tasty Papad ki sabzi. Now, get right into the kitchen, prepare this recipe in no time and enjoy it with your entire family. Stay safe, stay healthy! Happy cooking and eating!
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Papad Ki Sabzi
Ingredients
- 4-5 papads, any dal papad
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour / maida
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida / hing
- 2 red chilies
- 3 green chilies, slit
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic-green chili paste
- 1 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp kasuri methi
- handful of chopped coriander leaves
- salt, as per taste
Instructions
- In a bowl, add yogurt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder , cumin powder and maida. Whisk everything well.
- Add 1 cup water to it and mix everything without any lumps. Set aside
- Heat up a kadai on medium flame and add 1 tbsp oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and let it splutter.
- Then add the red chilies and the hing and fry for a few seconds.
- Add the ginger-garlic-green chili paste and the green chilies and saute until the raw smell disappears.
- Add the onions and saute until they turn translucent.
- Reduce the flame to low and add the whisked curd to the kadai and mix well. Let it come to a boil.
- Meanwhile roast the papads on direct flame.
- Break the roasted papads randomly into pieces as shown in the picture. Set aside.
- When the curry comes to a boil, add the garam masala, crushed kasuri methi and the coriander leaves. Mix well and let the curry boil until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Finally add the broken papads, salt and mix well. Cover the lid, switch off the flame and let it rest for 5-10 minutes for the papads to soak up before serving.
- Serve hot papad ki sabzi drizzled with some ghee on top, with phulkas, parathas or rotis
Notes
- Any dal papad can be used.
- Whisk the yogurt and the spices well without any lumps.
- Add green chilies, red chilies and red chili powder as per your level of spiciness.
- Adding onions are completely optional.
- You can also fry the papads in oil instead of roasting them. But, the charred taste that comes while roasting adds more flavor to the curry.
- Do not worry if the edges of the papads turn dark brown-black while roasting on direct flame. Like I said, it gives more flavor to the curry.
- While adding the whisked curd make sure that the flame is on low as the curd curdles when heated. A little bit of curdling takes place. That is absolutely fine.
- The curry thickens after adding the papads and on cooling down. So switch off the flame accordingly.
- Let the papads soak well before serving.
- Add salt as per taste and note that the papads have salt in them too. Add accordingly.
- Drizzling a little bit of ghee before serving lends the curry a great taste. This is my personal opinion. I loved it and it is completely optional.
