Papads, pickles and Partition: A Sindhi reminiscence

All three mealtimes at my home — yes, breakfast too — are usually marked with a query of how many papads will be needed at the table. As the business-based community struggled to make ends meet, many of its enterprising women made and sold papads and pickles to keep the kitchen fires burning. Years later, I was thrilled to find the finely kneaded dough of Sindhi papads being sold in Ahmedabad. As for me, I relish my papads in this rainy weather — not fried in oil or roasted over a flame but cooked Sindhi style, over a hot tawa dabbed with a few drops of oil. Sunday Recipe Sindhi Papad Ingredients 1 kg urad dal 1/4 kg moong dal 150 gm chaaniyo – available in Sindhi grocery stores 3 tbsp peppercorns 3 tbsp cumin seeds 1/4 tsp cooking soda 1/2 tsp asafoetida Salt to taste Method 1.