Sabudana Papad

Summer time, schools closed, and nostalgic moments. As kids we used to help mom in making dehydrated snacks and pickles. More than helping, it was a chance to taste/eat stuff that is being dried in the hot sun. Half dried potato wafers and chakli, half dried sabudana papad, and drying salted raw mangoes for pickling were all just so delicious. We would be on duty to shuuuu away crows and birds as they would peck on drying food. How I remember those amazing childhood days!!!

I still keep up the tradition and learn and make all the recipes that I have ever enjoyed as a child. These traditional/family recipes are to be treasured for the future generations. All these dehydrated snacks/fryums are fun to eat. Living away from India, it is not always possible to bring our favorite food. So since past few years we have been taking advantage of hot California summer to dehydrate veggies and also make dehydrated snacks to store for the entire year. Just like last summer, this summer too I had great response on dehydrated snack orders. With my mom being here, we both could make lot of chakli, papad, and sev for orders that we received. We are very happy to receive positive feedback on them.

When we made the first batch of sabudana papad which is usually made on a plastic/polythene sheet, my husband was not very happy. He wanted me to create a recipe without using plastic. Most people avoid plastic, and specially in this case, plastic sheet would have to remain in hot sun while papad would dry and hazardous chemicals that would be released. I then tried on aluminum sheets, which did not work as I did not grease the surface. They were difficult to peal off from a non greasy surface. One afternoon, it was an Eureka moment for me :) I called my husband who was at work, and told him that I had found a non-toxic/safe way to make sabudana papad and would be able to take orders to supply good safe products to the community. Yes, I used food safe silicon mats to dehydrate sabudana mixture and make papads... the ones that can be used for high baking temperatures!

Check out other dehydrated recipes:

Ingredients to make sabudana papad to store for the entire year.

2 cups sabudana

1+1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. cumin seeds

2 tbsp. ginger and green chili paste

Soak 2 cups of sabudana in 2 cups of water overnight or 4-5 hours till they are fluffy.

Remove in a large container and add 8 cups of water. Add salt and on medium heat bring the mixture to boil. Once it starts to boil, simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally so that it attains a good syrupy consistency and develops starch and turns translucent. 

Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. 

On cooling the mixture will thicken and sabudana will turn transparent.

While still slightly warm, add cumin seeds and ginger and green chili paste.

Mix well.

On a silicon mat or heat resistant surface pour a spoonful of mixture. Let the papad dry completely under hot sun. May take 1-3 days depending on the heat. Flip and dry if needed.

When dry, store in clean, dry container.

Fry in hot oil and sprinkle chili powder and chaat masala as per your taste.

Enjoy!

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Soak 2 cups of sabudana in 2 cups of water overnight or 4-5 hours till they are fluffy.

Remove in a large container and add 8 cups of water. Add salt and on medium heat bring the mixture to boil. Once it starts to boil simmer for 10 minutes so that it attains a good syrupy consistency and develops starch and turns translucent.

Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. 

On cooling, the mixture will thicken and sabudana will turn transparent.

While still slightly warm, add cumin seeds and ginger and green chili paste.

Mix well.

On a silicon mat or heat resistant surface pour a spoonful of mixture. Let the papad dry completely under hot sun. May take 1-3 days depending on the heat. Flip and dry if needed.

When dry, store in clean, dry container.

When dry, store in clean, dry container.

Fry in hot oil and sprinkle chili powder and chaat masala as per your taste.

Enjoy these FRYUMS!!!

Banana Chakri

Summers in California are not harsh, but few days of strong heat are enough to make some some dehydrated veggies and snacks to store for the entire year. While most of the snacks we make are with potatoes and sabudana or sago pearls, I was thinking of my Jain friends and felt a need to make something for them. Check out my other recipes of dehydrated snacks.

People who follow Jainism as religion refrain from underground veggies and certain leafy vegetables most of the year and specially during monsoon months. They follow a strict pattern of diet in the life. Most of them are based on scientific reasoning, and they are worth adapting in our lives.

Raw banana is a substitute to recipes that use potatoes. Raw bananas are not sweet and have texture of boiled potatoes, so boiling and mashing them to make various recipes is very simple and easy for Jain friends. Lately, I tasted Jain pav bhaji which had raw bananas boiled and mashed instead of potatoes. It tasted yum and we could not even notice any difference.

This recipe was a successful experiment to making dehydrated snack for my Jain friends, and with one of their upcoming festival, I hope my friends like it.

Ingredients:
3 large raw bananas
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp salt

• Pressure cook raw bananas till you hear 4-5 whistles or around 30 minutes.
• Peel and grate them well to avoid pieces.
• Add salt and red chili powder and mix well
• If the mixture feel dry, add a tbsp or so of water and make a dough.
• Use a chakri press, Fill it with mashed banana dough and press to form round chakris. 
• Dry it in hot solar heat.
• Next day flip and dry on the other side too.
• Store in an air tight container when it is completely dehydrated.

To serve:
Deep fry in medium hot oil and enjoy crisp snack.

Pressure cook raw bananas till you hear 4-5 whistles or around 30 minutes.

Peel and grate them well to avoid pieces.

Add salt and red chili powder and mix well

If the mixture feel dry, add a tbsp or so of water and make a dough.

Use a chakri press, Fill it with mashed banana dough and press to form round chakris. 

Dry it in hot solar heat.

Dry it in hot solar heat.

Next day flip and dry on the other side too.

Store in an air tight container when it is completely dehydrated.

Dried chakris.

Deep fry in medium hot oil and serve.

Enjoy!!!

Potato Wafer

Everyone is familiar with potato chips, and most of us like those too. But these chips here are not regular potato chips. These are potato slices/chips that have been blanched and dehydrated under hot sun, and then freshly fried before serving. Every summer mummy would make these dehydrated snacks to  store for the entire year. But, do you think this would last the whole year? Never... They are so delicious that they would not even last for 6 months :) These were the best tasting potato chips ever. Look at the various dehydrated recipes mummy would make: Potato and Sabudana Chakli,  Potato Sev, Sabudana Papad. And we enjoyed helping her too: waking up early morning with the sunrise and helping peel potatoes, spreading the cloth or dupatta on the terrace and securing the corners of the cloth with heavy stones or bricks, and then running around to shoo away the birds while the chips would be drying out  :) Yes, we grew up with all that fun during summer break, and were rewarded with yummy snacks. :) Those are the best childhood memories.

California summers can also be hot. When my parents visited us three years back, they felt this heat, and papa immediately suggested we could make potato wafers, papads, and dehydrated veggies. And we did! With a huge bag of potatoes from Costco, we started off making variety of dehydrated snacks to store them... just like the ant in the story stores seasonal food for later. :) The lattice designed chips were made by mummy in our Mumbai house, and the plain ones were made in California. Below is the video of how to make lattice or jali design using a crinkle blade slicer. It is really simple and worth a try.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. firm, raw potatoes.
2-3 liters water to blanch potato chips
2 tbsp. Salt
1 tsp. of alum

• Peel, and wash potatoes in potatoes in cold water.
• Slice them and place them in a container with water to prevent it from browning and sticking to each other.
• Boil water in a large container. Add salt and alum to water.
• Drain sliced potatoes and remove all the water.
• Keep another container with cold water ready on the side.
• Put few sliced potatoes in the boiling water and boil for 45 seconds to a minute.
• Remove and shock them in cold water. This will prevent it from overcooking.
• Separate each potato chip and pace on a clean cloth under hot sun heat. Dry it in hot dry temperature for 6-8 hours.
• Remove each chip from the cloth and place in a large plate.
• Place it again in hot sun heat for a day or two more till they dehydrate and get crisp.
• Any traces of moisture will lead to fungus growth and spoil the chips.

To use:
Fry in hot oil or spray some oil and microwave on high for a minute.
Sprinkle red chili powder if you like it a bit spicy.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Peel, and wash potatoes in potatoes in cold water.

Slice them and place them in a container with water to prevent it from browning and sticking to each other.

Here is my video to show how you can make jali or netted potato chips or jali wafers.

Boil water in a large container. Add salt and alum to water.

Put few sliced potatoes in the boiling water and boil for 45 seconds to a minute.

Remove and shock them in cold water. This will prevent it from overcooking.

Separate each potato chip and pace on a clean cloth under hot sun heat. Dry it in hot dry temperature for 6-8 hours.

Fry in hot oil or spray some oil and microwave on high for a minute.
Sprinkle red chili powder if you like it a bit spicy.

Enjoy Snacking!!

Dehydrated Karela Chips

Back to Basics! dehydrating and preserving veggies. Bitter gourd or bitter melon is not my favorite veggie. However I enjoy finely sliced, fried and crisp ones with simple home cooked food. Specially those days when you are out of veggies to cook, these dehydrated ones are to your rescue!

Here are Indian Bitter melon. Select fresh and thinner ones.

Finely slice them and spread them evenly in a metal tray.

Men at work!!

My dad wanted to slice those karelas (bitter gourds)

Papa making karela chips for me while Snehanshu make purple potato chips for my mom! :)

Ready to hang out in the balcony!

Spread them well.

Place them in the sunniest spot of your balcony.

Dehydrated and shrunk in size just in a day!

Store in an airtight container for future use.

Heat oil in a pan. Drop 5-6 dried chips in hot oil. Remove as it changes color. Sprinkle salt and chilli powder (optional).

Enjoy Crisp Bitter Melon Chips which are no longer Bitter!!