Street Food - Masala papad (Masala popadums with tomato and green chili)

Serves 6
2 tsp ground cumin
3 tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 fresh green jalapeño or serrano chilies,
seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp medium-hot red chili powder
juice of 2 limes
½ bunch of fresh cilantro leaves
12 popadums or about 24 mini popadums
(use freshly cooked or store-bought)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1Put the ground cumin in a small dry frying pan, and toast over medium heat
for about 2 minutes until fragrant.
2Halve the tomatoes, remove the seeds, and cut the flesh into a fine dice.
Mix the tomato and onion in a bowl with the green chilies. Season well with
salt and pepper. Add the toasted cumin powder and the chili powder, then stir in
the lime juice. Scatter over the cilantro leaves and gently stir through.
3When ready, scoop some of the mixture onto each of the popadums, and
serve at once.
One characteristic of
Indian street food is the
plentiful combination of
textures, temperatures, and
contrasting flavors. This
simple example has all of
those elements present to
delicious effect, and you
can make this dish while
preparing the rest of the
ingredients for a larger
meal. It is then simply
scattered over the popadums
before serving. The secret
to this dish is that it must
be eaten right away—
otherwise the popadums will
become soggy. Alternatively,
use another Indian-style
bread such as naan,
to make the snack a bit
more substantial.

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