Pappadam – Formulation, Baking Optimization, and Sensory Evaluation
client
Crispy pappadam
Our Role
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Today’s Task
What We did Today?
Event: Crispy and Flavorful Snack Prototype Development and Process Optimization
Today’s task was to formulate a savoury pappadam prototype by incorporating different fractions of black gram bean flour, flavored with various spices and cheese. This marks the first-ever commercial-scale attempt to add an Italian twist to an Indian snack. Black gram (urad dal) is rich in protein, fiber, calcium, iron, and other essential nutrients that support heart, bone, skin, hair, dental, and digestive health. The upcoming product development process will focus not only on nutritional value and health benefits but also on enhancing the overall sensory experience. The development strategy emphasizes minimal processing, low-oil absorption, natural preservation, and flavor retention, while prioritizing consumer appeal, clean-label compliance, and innovation.
How I Felt Before Starting
Enhancing a traditional Indian snack with an Italian twist is exciting but requires a carefully planned strategy to balance taste, Italian flavors, and overall texture. This process is challenging, as it involves optimizing multiple factors, including moisture retention, oil absorption, structural integrity, dough consistency, expansion, density, and mass transfer parameters. My prior experience with papad and crackers, along with knowledge of dough chemistry and natural preservation methods, provided a strong foundation to develop a robust prototype for today’s experiment.
🧪 What We Did Today
Product Development Plan
This experiment required three key phases:
- Standardization and optimization of dough consistency, thickness, rolling technique, and resting time.
- Baking using precise temperature control to study moisture loss, oil absorption, expansion kinetics, and uniform crispness.
- Evaluation of physio-chemical parameters and sensory characteristics of final products.
Key Steps Followed Today:
- Black gram flour sourced, analysed, and stored at optimum temperature.
- Wet ingredients: water and oil are measured and mixed separately.
- Dry ingredients: Flour, seasoning, and other functional blends are mixed separately.
- Dry and wet ingredients combined together to form smooth dough; rested 30 minutes to enhance elasticity.
- Dough rolled into thin circles (~2 mm thickness)
- Baking Equipment: Lab-scale convection oven with precise temperature control ±1°C.
- Baking Medium: Dry baking on perforated trays (no oil) to ensure uniform heat transfer.
- Baking Protocol:
- Papads baked individually in 7 replicates; average values reported.
- Temperatures tested: 160, 170, 180, and 190 ±1°C (monitored using a calibrated thermocouple, accuracy ±1°C).
- Baking times: 2–8 minutes in 30 s intervals; data recorded until desired expansion and crispness stabilized.
- Post baking fried to check the oil absorption rate.
- Weight & Diameter: Measured using analytical balance and Vernier caliper (accuracy 0.02 mm).
- Thickness: Four points per papad using micrometer (accuracy 0.01 mm).
- Diametric Expansion on Baking: Calculated as:
- Moisture Content: Oven-drying method, dry basis (AOAC method).
- Oil Content: Soxhlet extraction, dry basis (AOAC method).
- pH: Measured using calibrated digital pH meter.
- SMS Texture Analyzer TA-XDi, three-point bending, load cell 50 kg, speed 100 mm/min.
- Breaking strength recorded for raw and baked pappadams.
- Color: Shimadzu MPC-3100; L*, a*, b* values, three replicates; barium sulfate as white standard.
- Trained panel of 15 members.
- Attributes evaluated: taste, texture/crispiness, aroma, appearance, overall acceptability.
- Quantitative descriptive analysis using 15 cm intensity scale.
- Data analyzed via Duncan’s Multiple Range Test and Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA).
📚 What I Learned?
- Resting dough improved elasticity and prevented cracks during baking.
- Baking at optimum temperature for 13 min yielded optimal crispiness for 2 mm pappadams.
- Optimum baking temperature ensured maximum expansion (~46%) and lowest moisture (~1.2%).
- Diffusivity of moisture increased with baking temperature, accelerating crispiness development.
- Oil absorption ratio ~2:1 relative to moisture loss; baking temperature strongly influenced oil uptake.
- Texture analysis confirmed baked pappadams had slightly higher breaking strength.
Outcome:
- Moisture Content (%):2–2.5, lower at higher baking/frying temperatures.
- Oil Absorption (%): 42–47, increases with frying temperature.
- Diametrical Expansion (%): 27–46, maximum at 185°C after 20 s.
- Breaking Strength (N): 25–35, fried pappadams slightly more brittle.
- Color (L, a, b*): ** L*: 75–85, a*: 2–5, b*: 18–24 — uniform golden-brown.
- Sensory Scores (9-point scale):
- Taste: 7.8
- Texture: 7.2
- Appearance: 8.0
- Aroma: 8.1
- Overall: 7.8, acceptable
- minor flavor and texture optimization needed.
✅ What Went Well?
- Targeted crispiness and golden color achieved with optimum temperature.
- Dough resting time improved expansion, handling, and final product uniformity.
- Sensory evaluation helped to identify minor improvements for flavor optimization.
⚠️ What Could I Have Done Better
- Baking temperature-time combinations should have been optimized further to enhance surface texture and crispness.
- Dough thickness and uniform rolling could have been adjusted to promote even puffing and expansion.
- Optimize color development through mild pre-toasting or natural browning enhancers for a uniform golden appearance.
- Fine-tune seasoning blend to enhance aroma and flavor intensity, compensating for the absence of oil-fried notes.
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