Indian Poppadoms with Mango and Mint Chutneys

The idea at first was Indian nan but I didn’t make a big enough batch of this stuff to make more than one big circle of nan bread. Then Melissa suggested doing poppadoms instead… Now, I know you’re thinking: what the hell is a poppadom? Granted, it seems nan and dosas get all the publicity and the poor poppadoms are kind of hiding their light under a bushel basket. It’s not a exactly a ‘household name’.

A poppadom (also called papadum, papad or papar) is a thin and crispy round Indian flatbread. It is kind of like a dosa but not quite as paper thin and crumbly. And it’s round and can be spiced up like a good nan. I guess it actually falls right in the middle between nan and dosas when it comes to texture and shape.

It is typically based on a seasoned dough that’s supposedly formed from peeled black gram flour and either fried or cooked over an open flame. We happen to have some Indian friends who say there’s no way they can find that kind of flour here and they normally use lentil flour, instead. So much for tradition; I guess there’s all kind of rules we can break! Of course there will be no frying or open flames for us but why should that be a deterrent? And no lentil flour either because you can’t eat that raw. So what? Poppadoms sure sounded like a wonderful thing to load up with these delicious chutneys. So I thinned out the coconut, plantain and onion batter and made two big crispy poppadoms: one for me and one for Melissa. And into the dehydrator they went.

As always we crossed our fingers. It’s always part magic, no matter how you look at things. When you’re cooking without a recipe – or even combining a bunch of recipes together to form something new – everything’s somewhat of a crapshoot. You’ve just got to think positive.

Twelve hours later and the poppadoms emerged looking… perfect. We’d whipped together some truly amazing and flavorful chutneys and couldn’t wait to get our poppadoms into the mix. I will say: we were so proud of the entire effort. We ate every last crumb and were patting ourselves on the back the whole way through. Especially because, on top of being flavorful, it was all so easy! This was definitely a meal we’d like to have again. Maybe with a little vegan chai the next time round.

Because there will be a next time.

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Indian Poppadoms with Mango and Mint Chutneys

Poppadam

1 3/4 cups coconut meat from young Thai coconuts (about two coconuts)

1 cup yellow onion, shredded and all moisture pressed out using cheesecloth or nut milk bag

1/4 cup plantain flour (dehydrate plantains till crisp and process into a flour)

1/4 cup scallions, finely minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon cumin seed

1 teaspoon parsley, minced

1-1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine coconut meat and onion in a Vitamix or high speed blender. You will have to tamp mixture down several times to incorporate and make smooth. Add the flour and continue to tamp and process till smooth.

Pour half of mixture onto a Teflex dehydrator sheet and smooth out with an offset spatula to form a circle. It should be relatively thin but not so thin that it will fall apart. Use a second dehydrator sheet to form a second pappodam.

Lightly spread half of the olive oil on each poppadam. Sprinkle with half the parsley, cumin, scallion and garlic.

Dehydrate at 115 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours or so, making sure the bread separates easily from the Teflex sheet without sticking. Flip onto another Teflex lined dehydrator sheet.

Sprinkle with remaining parsley, cumin, garlic and scallion, pressing in lightly if needed.

Dehydrate for another 5-6 hours. Serve with accompanying chutneys.

Mango Chutney

1 ripe mango, diced

1 teaspoon pulverized raw sugar

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon each: cinammon, clove, turmeric and ginger

pinch crushed red pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mint Chutney

1/2 cup raw cashews (not soaked)

1/4 cup water

pinch of salt

1 cup cilantro, finely minced

3 tablespoons minced mint

2 tablespoons Nama Shoyu

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 large jalapeno pepper, chopped fine

Put cashews, water and pinch of salt in a Vitamix or high speed blender and process till smooth.

Add all other ingredients and process till well mixed and smooth. Mixture will be a lovely green color.

SERVES 2