Sweet Wheat Papad (Gova Hapolu, Godu Happolu, Sakre Happolu Recipe)

Sweet Wheat Papad (Gova Hapolu, Godu Happolu, Sakre Happolu Recipe)

When we were kids our parents, uncles brought us these tiny, sweet wheat papads. They aren't deep fried, rather are enjoyed as-is. They're super yum & used to be our any time snack. Sweet, delicious, rubbery and chewy. Gova hapolu, godu happolu, sakkare happolu in Konkani. 

last summer I tried to make them at home. To get hold of the recipe I had to call a couple of aunties, figure out the recipe over umpteen calls, figure out the exact measurements to make perfect papads. None of them had exact measurements, knew exact procedure. So after 2 trials & making sense of everybody's process, procedures, I figured out the recipe that works perfectly. Here it goes for you. Should make perfect, beautiful, yummy wheat papads. Enjoy gova hapolu as a snack any time of the day with your little ones, with your loved ones.

Tastes delicioussss all the way during it's making Until it's steamed it tastes like a nice wheat juice. Enjoy it chilled - a healthy juice. Mom said we don't drink wheat juice cuz it's considered to produce heat in our body. After it's steamed tastes all the more delicious. Like wheat cake/halwa then like wheat balls, then we have delicious wheat papad. 

P.S: It's ok if you don't have direct sunlight to sun dry them. They'll dry out easily in shade too. But make sure you empty them within a month of making.


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of wheat (1 cup of measuring cup)
  • 1 cup of powdered jaggery (adjust the amount depending on how sweet you like your papads)
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom powder
  • 2-3 tablespoons of ghee
  • 2 tablespoons of wheat flour OR 1 teaspoon of oil, 2 plastic sheets for rolling out papads

Makes 28-30 tiny papads

P.S: Many make these papads with sugar too, they then turn out whitish, cream in colour. 

P.P.S: Organic jaggery gives a darker colour to the papad.

Preparation Time: 1- 1.5 hours in total


Preparation Method:

1. Soak whole wheat in the morning.

2. Grind it in a mixer/grinder using equal amounts of water.

3. Strain it to remove wheat husk. Use a tiny holed strainer. Traditionally they used muslin cloth to strain. We need only the well ground wheat, no amount of tiny husk for smooth textured papads.

4. If you used a mixer, grind it again using very little water to extract any leftover wheat from the husk.

5. Strain it again, throw away the husk after pressing it to remove any ground wheat present.

6. Let the ground wheat stand overnight. We want ground wheat to settle down at the bottom & water used to grind settle on top so that it can be decanted. This time also allows for little fermentation. Little sourness from the fermentation is recommended for added taste. 

7. Decant all the water you can in the morning.

8. Add jaggery + a pinch of salt + cardamom powder & mix well. 

We want a considerably thick mixture. It shouldn't be dilute or it won't cook through. After mixing in jaggery it will dilute considerably. If it hasn't and is too thick then add water equal to the amount of wheat you used.

9. Cook it in a steamer for 30 minutes on medium flame.

10. After 30 minutes of steaming it should have uniformly changed in colour all around, even on the bottom. Lift the batter & check. You'll get a wheat cake like mixture. Delicious in itself.

The wheat cake like mixture should be thick, shouldn't be watery. If you find water on top of the wheat cake, discard it or use it to make chapathi, wheat halwa etc. 

11. Let it cool down a little then mix it well, knead it into a ball. You'll get a nice chapathi dough like dry dough. Do this before it cools down completely. It'll harden on cooling down and will form clumps otherwise. 

If there are clumps even on mixing the cooked mixture with hands, use a pestle or a stone to crush out the clumps and get a smooth dough, some aunties said.

12. Add little ghee all around the dough to prevent it from drying out. 

13. While the dough is warm or cool enough for you to handle, make tiny balls out of the dough.

Dough might harden on cooling down. So, while the dough is still warm or after it has cooled down a little make them into balls. 

14. Then roll them into tiny papads. You can dust it with wheat flour & roll, or alternatively press the ball in between 2 oiled sheets of plastic.

15. Keep the papads a little thick, we want them soft & chewy on sun drying. 

If they're made thin, they become hard & crispy on sun drying.

16. Then sun dry them for just 2 days. Not more as they'll otherwise become hard. We want soft, rubbery, chewy papads that even kids can eat easily. Not hard or crispy papads that snap into pieces.

Sun dry one side on one day, another side on another day.

17. Store them in airtight containers. They can be stored for a few months.


Watch how it's made here: