Ever spotted an international content creator discover something innately desi and give it a global spin? Something similar happened recently and it went viral! A food vlogger recently posted a recipe for legume chips, prompting many desis to comment, "It's papad!"
Also Read: Hyderabad Food-Vloggers Said To Be Hyping Overrated Eateries; Is Influencer Review Worth The Hype?
Alessandro Vitale, known on Instagram as @spicymoustache, is famous for sharing budget-friendly, sustainable, and low-waste recipes. Some of his popular plant-based creations include Mushroom Shawarma, Homemade Caviar, and Fig Tarts. This time, Alessandro introduced a recipe for Legume Chips.
To prepare these plant-based crisps, he combined leftover rice, chopped herbs, peas, assorted spices, and water in a blender, creating a thick, coarse paste. He also made variations using chickpeas and lentils. After spreading the paste between two sheets of parchment paper, he flattened it into a thin layer using a rolling pin. The final step was to dehydrate or bake the mixture in an oven overnight, which produced crispy legume chips.
After the batter dried completely, Alessandro broke it into smaller pieces and fried them in hot oil to create crispy chips. Made with natural ingredients, his legume chips boasted vibrant colors—bright yellow, pink, and green—making them look both healthy and irresistible as a snack. In the video, Alessandro is seen enjoying a bowl of freshly made chips while relaxing on his sofa and watching a movie.
The reel quickly went viral, amassing over 3 million views, with many viewers expressing a keen interest in trying the recipe themselves. However, many Indians couldn’t help but point out that Alessandro’s creation closely resembled "papad." Some commented that in South India, this snack is known as "papadam" and is typically sun-dried.
One Instagram user fondly recalled how her grandmother used to make it during the summer in India, sharing it with her children and grandchildren. Alessandro’s followers from India chimed in to inform him that his dish was essentially their beloved “papad” or “papadam.”
South Asian followers also chimed in with their inputs on this dish. "In Indonesia we call it KERUPUK and Javanese call it GENDAR or PULI (crackers specially made from left over rice)," a follower wrote.