Some of my Muslim friends who are fasting for Ramadan have asked me to suggest healthy and light snacks for Iftar, which is the evening meal, when Muslims end their daily fast at sunset. They are looking for quick, no fuss recipes.

I have made a crunchy papad snack which requires no cooking or baking and can be made in less than 10 minutes.

Papad also known as Poppadum in the UK is a thin, sun dried cracker mostly made with lentils and is typically served as an accompaniment to a meal. It not only enhances the taste, but also adds that extra crunch to the meal.

Papads are typically made from flour or paste derived from either lentils, chickpeas, black gram (urad flour), rice, or potato. The dough is rolled out to super fine thin sheets and left in the sun to dry. At times, papad is flavoured with spices like cumin, black pepper and chili.

Normally papads are deep fried in oil, but these days the papads can be roasted in the microwave making it a very healthy snack.

Papads are easily available in any Asian store and big supermarkets.

Ingredients

• 6 papad (I used the cumin flavoured ones)
• 1 medium red onion, very finely chopped
• 1 medium tomato, seeds removed and very finely chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped coriander leaves or parsley
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 red chilly to garnish
• juice of 1 lime
• salt and pepper

Method

• In a mixing bowl, mix together tomato, onion, chopped coriander leaves, lime juice and salt.
• Roast the papads in the microwave- placing one papad at a time and cooking on high power for 60 sec .
• Layer the above mixture onto the roasted papad and serve immediately.

Please note:

• Both the toppings and the roasted papad can be made couple of hours in advance.
• But once the topping is spread on the papad, it should be served immediately.