Air Fryer Papdi – My Food Story

Published: Oct 19, 2022 by Richa · This post may contain affiliate links.

Air Fryer Papdi is SO crispy and crunchy and made without deep frying and all that extra oil — trust me, you won’t be able to tell the difference! This is that festive recipe that you’ve just got to try! 

Diwali is right around the corner, and I know I’m not the only one who has SO much prep to do. If you’re working on your festive menus and gift hampers, I’ve got just the recipe for you to add: Air Fryer Papdi. 

We always make Papdi for Diwali in my house – it’s a great snack, gift hamper addition, and perfect to have on hand when impromptu guests visit (so common right?) to turn into papdi chaat. 

This year, I knew I wanted some healthy snacks on hand – enter Air Fryer Papdi. You get the same crispy, crunchy results but without deep frying. Plus you aren’t spending your time slaving over the hot stove because the air fryer makes these pretty hands free. 

Looking for more Chaat recipes? Try my Pani Puri (Golgappa/ Puchka) Recipe, Bread Chaat and Easy Aloo Chaat!

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here’s everything you need for this recipe –

• Atta and Maida – we use equal parts in this recipe but you can always do 100% atta or 100% maida
• Sooji – just a couple tablespoons for additional crispness
• Oil – don’t reduce the quantity because this is what makes these crisp
• Nigella (Kalonji) Seeds – this has light onion notes that adds a great flavour to the papdi 
• Baking Powder – this will ensure that the papdis are light
• Salt – for taste
• Water – to knead

How to make Air Fryer Papdi

Here’s a quick step by step showing you how to make air fried papdi:

1. Mix together atta, maida, sooji, salt, nigella seeds, baking powder in a bowl. Add oil.

2. Mix the oil with other ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. When you take a fistful of mixture, it should hold its shape.

3. Add water little by little.

4. Knead well into a smooth, stiff dough.

5. Shape into a round smooth ball.

6. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.

7. Divide the dough into half.

8. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin.

9. The thickness should be between ⅙ – ¼ inch.

10. Use a round cookie cutter or your desired shape and cut the papdi out. Repeat till all the dough is used up.

11. Remove the excess dough. Preheat the ir fryer for 3 minutes.

12. Place the papdis in a single layer in the air fryer basket.

13. Air fry at 190C for 7-8 minutes, checking after the 5 and then 7-minute mark.

14. Repeat till all the papdis are baked.

Richa’s Top Tips

1. When adding oil to the dough, rub it into the flour well – the mixture will start to resemble breadcrumbs and this is what makes papdis and mathris flaky
2. Don’t roll these thinner than ⅙th of an inch or they’ll cook too fast and might burn. I actually prefer to keep them to ¼th of an inch thickness
3. Prick the rolled papdis with a fork so they don’t puff too much when air frying and remain crisp. 
4. If using just atta or maida individually, add more water when kneading for the atta dough and less for the maida dough. 

There are so many ways to enjoy these crisp papdis — you can whip up a quick sev puri, dahi papdi chaat, spicy papdi chaat, aloo chaat, bhel puri — the options are literally endless! Or, serve these on their own with a piping hot cup of chai. 

As always, be sure to tag me in your creations – I love seeing you guys try out these recipes and I’m looking forward to seeing these air fryer papdis make their way to your festive homes. 

Watch the Recipe Video

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