CONVENIENCE AND HEALTH FOODS 3 (1+2)

Lesson 11 : Traditional Food Adjuncts

Papad production

Production of papad from a simple dhal is an example of high level of value addition occurring in food processing industry.

Two methods of papad preparation are 1. Manual 2. Auto mated.

Manual method:

1. In the manual method, pulse is finely powdered (80-90 mesh) or powdered dhal is procured.
2. It is then mixed with spices in fixed ratio, the ratio varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.
3. The papad khar is soaked in water previously and mixed with flour and kneaded into dough of desired consistency.
4. Kneading is continued till dough of desired rolling property is obtained.
5. Dough is divided into small balls and rolled into circular papads.
6. Dry in sun for 15-20 minutes
7. Put in shade for few minutes.
8. Pack in 150 gauge Low density polyethylene (LDPE) bags of appropriate size.
9. The manually prepared papads have a shelf life of 5-6 months but is labour intensive.

Automated method:

1. Motor operated machine has markings of various sizes of the papad. A paddle operates the motor of the machine.
2. The papads are rolled automatically. The operator will stop the machine when papad has been rolled.
3. Then it is sundried. It takes 5-7 minutes for sun drying.
4. A manufacturer has 5-6 beds on which he dries the papad. By the time the beds are filled the first round papads are dried and ready to be picked up.
5. Excessive drying affects the quality of the product.
6. The shelf life of machine made papads is only 3 months.
7. To cater to increasing export markets and to increase production, manufacturers are moving towards automatic methods.
8. In another automatic machine which consists of rollers, circular dies and dryers are present.
9. The dough is fed into the machine which rolls the dough into thick flat slices.
10. The slices are rolled into thin sheets and cut into various sizes of circular papad.
11. The cut papad are sent into the drier, after which they are ready for packaging.
12. The excess dough is removed and added back to the dough to avoid wastage.