Amritsari Papad or papar is a variety of the

papad A papad is an Indian deep fried dough of black gram bean flour, either fried or cooked with dry heat (flipped over an open flame) until crunchy. Other flours made from lentils, chickpeas, rice, tapioca, millet or potato are also used. ''Papad' ...

snack specific to the north Indian state of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

and the surrounding region, and even more specific to the city of Amritsar. Amritsari papad is famous throughout India, and is also exported abroad. Like papad elsewhere in India, Amritsari papad is made from dough, usually of hulled urad daal flour, seasoned liberally with salt, black pepper, heeng (

asafoetida Asafoetida (; also spelled asafetida) is the dried latex ( gum oleoresin) exuded from the rhizome or tap root of several species of ''Ferula'', perennial herbs growing tall. They are part of the celery family, Umbelliferae. Asafoetida is th ...

), cumin, coriander,

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

seeds, and sometimes garlic. The proportions are highly variable, leading to a large variety in taste and pungency. The dough is rolled into wafer thin discs the size of a small plate, and sun-dried to prepare raw papad. Flours from other sources such as

lentils The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest produ ...

chickpeas The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are hi ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, but whose use is now spread throughout South America ...

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

, are sometimes used. Dried papad will keep for several months without refrigeration. Although now done by machines, papad was traditionally rolled out by hand, requiring a fair amount of force because of the dryness of the dough—indeed, In Hindi and Punjabi, "papad belna" (rolling out papad) is still a metaphor for any laborious or arduous task. Papad is prepared by roasting in an oven or on an open flame, and because it is so thin and dry, takes but a fraction of a minute to be done. In Punjab, it is typically served as an accompaniment to a meal, but elsewhere in India, it is also eaten as an appetizer or snack, with toppings such as chopped onions, carrots,

chutney A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sa ...

or other dips and condiments. Papad is a low calorie food but has a high sodium content.

References

{{Indian dishes Indian snack foods Indian breads Amritsar