Take your ordinary Papad and turn it up a notch!

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Take your regular papad to the next level. A quick and simple way to make masala papad with mangoes and cucumber. The papad can be fried or roasted

Do you quickly devour the papad appetizer at Indian restaurants even before the server has had the chance to put it on your table?

Well, then you are going to love this recipe and you might never look at papad the same way ever again!

It has been a long time since I have posted a recipe for an Indian dish. Indian food is part of my daily life! I love the spices, the flavors and all the variety that it is known for.

“Indian food is great tasting and good for the soul.” Every day, I climb to my rooftop just so I can shout that phrase on top of my lungs. People walking below just stare at me and think of me as the crazy lady.

They, however, nod in agreement.

Cooking Indian food comes easy to me. I don’t have to think about it. All the methodologies and steps have been deeply ingrained into me since childhood. Not to brag, but, I am sure I can cook it with one hand tied behind my back!

So, I take the time to create some non-Indian dishes. This blog, in one way, is to force me to get out of my comfort zone. It has become a way for me to experiment with ingredients to see what will work and what will not work.

That hasn’t stopped me from bringing some Indian Spices to classic dishes from other cultures. Remember the Carmon seeds used in Fried Green Tomatillos? That recipe has been a huge success with my readers.

For this recipe, I am going to make something my mother used to make. This is in honor of her very recent birthday which was very special to both of us. This was the first time, in over ten years, that I had wished her a Happy Birthday. We had a falling out years ago and only recently reconnected.

That is a story for another day….

Every Sunday, during my formidable years, masala papad was a staple on the dinner table. For Sunday dinner, there would be masala papad, masala chips (masala french fries) and Mom would make her INFAMOUS samosas.

My mother’s samosas are just as legendary as her masala papad. The samosas are slightly larger than bite-size and the perfect equilateral triangles! If you took your protractor to it, you would notice that all the angles are exactly 60 degrees!

She made her samosas from the bottom up. She would never DREAM of using store bought samosa “shells”. Even now, when we are at Indian restaurants, both of us will let out a simultaneous loud grunt at the sight of the restaurant’s samosas. They are bulky, have no shape and drenched in oil.

Don’t worry, someday soon, I will get her to help guest write a blog post with her recipe for equilateral samosas. I am working on her slowly and I am sure I am wearing her down.

I want the whole world to see her perfect samosas.

This masala papad is her recipe with one variation. My recipe includes mango. Mango came about quite accidentally after I added it instead of onions.

Talk about happy accidents!

If you are worried about eating fried food, then, this recipe works great with roasted papad instead. Tastes just as good.

My favorite recipes from my mother are her masala papad and her samosas. What recipe of your mother do you remember the most?

You can serve this by itself or with (affiliate link) green chutney.

If you want to learn how to make papad from scratch, try this recipe version by Jain Rasoi or purchase (affiliate link) pre-made papad from amazon

I also love using a poblano and papaya chutney for this recipe

How to make Masala Papad