Q:

How to make restaurant style poppadoms

When I buy 'cook at home' poppadoms or order from a restaurant/takeaway they are usually very crispy and expand and bubble up as soon as you fry them.
I tried a recipe for homemade poppadoms which consisted of gram flour and water (plus some seasoning and cumin), which I made into a dough and needed for a few minutes until it was smooth, rolled it into paper thin rounds, dried out gently then shallow-fried in about a cm of hot oil. They did not expand at all and turned out more like something between crackers and a flat bread.
I'm guessing they need some kind of raising agent to make them like the restaurant style ones? Are these style of poppadoms easy to make at home? Does anyone know the best way to make them?

A:

I'm not an authority on poppadoms (I hadn't heard of them before today...) but after some searching online (and identifying three different brands of "cook at home" poppadoms), checking some ingredient lists, and checking other recipes, I think I'm prepared to say that the difference between the recipe you've used and the "ready to cook" prepackaged versions is indeed the raising agents, as you thought.
The next immediate question, then, is how much to add? One recipe that I saw used a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda with an entire pound of flour. That seems on the lower end, to me, but like I already said, I'm not a poppadom expert by any means. Frankly, I'd recommend using at least 1/4 teaspoons of baking soda for every 1/2 cup of flour.
The exact amount will depend on your recipe. I hope this is helpful. :)

