Surati Papdi

Thin, flat crispy fried puris — small rounds of fine flour dough rolled paper-thin and deep-fried until completely flat, pale golden, and utterly brittle; they shatter when pressed with a finger. The Surati papdi is eaten plain as a snack with tea, as the base for chaat preparations, crumbled into bhel, or used to scoop surati chhole. The defining quality is the thinness and the complete crispness; a properly made papdi has no soft interior — it is crisp from edge to centre. Surati papdi-making is a community industry; specialist makers in Surat's lanes supply papdi in bulk for homes and street food vendors throughout the city.