Nothing about these sourdough poppadoms are traditional. They are not made with lentil, rice or chickpea flour. And they are not deep fried. But, they are thin and crispy and perfect to go with any Indian food. These are baked in the oven which is perfect for me, as I am not a fan of deep frying anything.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Sourdough Poppadoms ♥
Sourdough Poppadoms
Like most Indian foods, the traditional recipe for poppadoms will vary from region to region. And within those areas, each household will have their own unique twist. A dough is made from either using flour, or a paste from lentils, chickpeas, rice or potatoes. To the flour or paste, peanut oil will be added to make a dough. This is then seasoned with salt and can be flavoured with other spices. The dough is shaped into round discs and sun-dried before cooking. Other than deep frying, this snack can be also be cooked over an open flame, flipping over and over, until they are perfectly crunchy. Poppadoms can be served as a snack to dip into chutneys or raita, or topped with pickles or a sambal.
The ingredients I used
Making sure to take full advantage of my sourdough starter, I decided to use this as the base for my poppadoms. To be fair, I did not come up with this idea without a little bit of inspiration. I had seen a recipe for crackers using sourdough, and this really appealed to me. But in my mind crackers go with cheese, and these turned out to be perfect for Indian food, or to use as a dipper. I also wanted to test making my own semolina rimacinata flour. Semola Rimacinata is a finer type of semolina flour that has been re-milled several times for a fine grind and sifted to remove any bran particles. I took my semolina flour, stuck it in my blender and ground it until it was super fine. After sifting, it looked and felt exactly like the rimacinata one I had brought back from Europe.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Sourdough Poppadoms ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Sourdough Poppadoms
Equipment
- pizza stone for baking
- spray bottle for the water
- Pasta Roller
- Pizza Peel
Ingredients
- 200 g active sourdough starter
- 150 g semolina rimacinata flour *
- 10 g olive oil
- 2.5 mls fine salt
for baking:
- 180 mls water
- 5 mls fine salt
- flour for dusting
Method
- Place the starter, flour, oil and salt into a stand mixer bowl and bring together using a dough hook
- Once a dough has formed, knead for 5 minutes then tip out and shape into a ball
- Wrap the dough tightly in cling film and place into the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes **
for baking:
- Adjust your baking rack in your oven to the lower third, then place a pizza stone on the rack *** and preheat the oven to 245° Celsius
- Place the water into a microwave safe jug with the salt and blitz for 30 seconds
- Stir until the salt has dissolved then pour the mixture into a spray bottle ****
- Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into balls weighing about 20g each
- Keep the dough you are not working with covered with a dish towel to prevent it from drying out
- Taking a piece of dough at a time, flatten the ball into a disc then roll it through your pasta roller on number 1 *****
- Turn the dough a quarter turn, adjust the setting on your roller to number 2 and pass the dough through
- Repeat this twice more, turning and adjusting the setting so you end on number 4
- Place the rolled dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll as this as possible, keeping it as round as possible
- Place the dough onto a pizza peel ****** then spray the top lightly with the salt water
- Place the dough onto the pizza stone and bake for 90 seconds
- Flip over using tongs and bake for another 90 seconds before removing from the oven and placing onto wire rack to cool
- You can roll your next piece of dough while the one is baking, and do this until all the dough has baked into nice crisp poppadoms
- They will keep in an airtight container for several days
Notes
** you can leave the dough overnight, or use as needed over several days.
*** I would say this is essential to get the perfect rise but if you do not have a pizza stone, use the baking tray that comes with your oven.
**** a spray bottle will make your life easier, but you could brush the water on with a fine pastry brush if need be.
***** you can do all of this with a rolling pin, but it will be tedious and hard work.
****** this is just to make your life easier, but you can just do the placement by hand.
See the links below for blog posts I published on May 20:
- 2022: Date Chocolate Cake
- 2020: All Sorts Of One-Dish Wonders
- 2019: Garlic Parsley Butter
- 2018: Texas Ranger
- 2015: Moving Your Website To WordPress
- 2013: Linguine Marinara Con Ricotta
- 2012: The Versatile Blogger Award
- 2011: Tiramisu
You really do like sourdough. I’ve never tried to make it, but I do purchase it.
It is my favourite to use for bread!
Great recipe
Thank you!
These look so good, Tandy. I grew up on “Papadam” way we spelled it in Sri Lanka, and they were such a tasty textured side dish. Seeing this takes me back. Also – I LOVE that these are baked. Thanks for this recipe!
Hope you try these Shashi 🙂
They look absolutely and truly moreish . . . no problems in the least with ingredients but one does need a bit of ‘equipment’ for the poppadums to come out your way . . . could eat a whole plate at the moment methinks 🙂 !
Dave and I ate the entire batch over the course of a day 🙂
As an Indian, I found this twist on traditional poppadoms quite fascinating! At home, papad is a must-have with our daily lunch—crispy, flavorful, and usually made from lentil or rice flour. I love how you’ve reimagined them using sourdough and baking instead of deep frying—such a healthy and creative alternative! It’s always refreshing to see global spins on familiar favorites.
If you enjoy glimpses of real life with toddlers, tasty chaos, and heartfelt moments, do visit my blog Twin Chaos & Toddler Giggles at twinmom73.wordpress.com. Would love to connect!
Warmly,
Diya | @twintales2025
Hi Diya, thank you for the visit, and the lovely comment. This is high praise indeed coming from someone who makes poppadoms from scratch 🙂
These turned out bakery perfect, Tandy.
Thank you so much for that compliment!
Another wonderful sourdough recipe! I love flatbreads, but these poppadoms are new to me. And I love that they ard not deep-fried.
I think not deep frying them made all the difference 🙂
i am terrible at deep frying so baking or cooking a dish another way is always a win for me!
sherry
Hope you give this a go!