Appalams are used for philosophy in India. It’s a unique Indian product, made and consumed across nearly every region of the country, and appreciated abroad as an excellent Indian innovation. Reports state that, In 1915, when cash and commodities were collected to support Indian soldiers in the Great War, tins of papads were among the donations. Immediately after the deadly 9/11 attacks, the US had banned air passengers bringing any food products on board many pickles and papad packets were discarded that the airports had resembled grocery shops.
Some Indian communities are particularly associated with papads. Sindhis famously eat papad anytime and with anything, and this can’t be unlinked that papads are one product that is easy to make in their arid, and now lost, homeland. Originally most papads were made with urad or other dal flours, but over time they have been made from every kind of starch, from rice to potatoes to tapioca and, now, of course, you can buy quinoa papads. Innovations like this tend to cover up the fact that some traditional varieties are becoming harder to find.
There are dishes made with crumbled papads, like pappadam pazham, a delectable mash of bananas, sugar, rice and ghee topped with crisp-fried papad crumbs, or the paranthas stuffed with crumbled papads you can find in Old Delhi. Skilled cooks can shape papads into cups or rolls that are stuffed with spicy fillings. We may no longer have the time (or the terraces) to make papads in summer, but this should not mean ignoring the many varieties and values of such an intrinsically Indian ingredient.
