Papad Making Business

Papad is a thin wafer-like very tasty and popular food product. Any individual can initiate Papad making business on a small-scale, home-based basis or on a large scale. It sometimes described as a cracker or flatbread. The other popular names are Papadum and Papad. Papad can be cooked by deep-frying, roasting over an open flame, toasting or microwaving, depending on the desired texture. Papad making is considered a very lucrative and profitable food manufacturing opportunity, considering the low-cost capital investment.

Demand for different varieties of Papad is increasing steadily. The demand is steady throughout the year and it generally hikes 10-155% during the festive season. In the Indian context, there is some national brand, but the market is predominantly controlled by local manufacturers. In initiating Papad making business, it is advisable to make prior market research about the preferred tastes of local consumers.

Machinery & Raw Materials For Papad Making

Papad making unit can be established in three ways, such as manual, semi-automatic and automatic. CFTRI, Mysore, has successfully developed Papad press. Various different types of pedal-operated Papad press machines are available. To get small quantity output you can use this type of machine.

Semi-Automatic Papad Making Unit

You can establish a semi-automatic Papad making unit also to get more production output than a manual system. In this case, you will need to have an electric grinding machine, mixing machine, electric Papad press machine, drying machine with trolley, water storage tank, weighing scale, pouch sealing machine and some laboratory equipment.

Fully Automatic Papad Making Unit

To get large scale production output, you can establish fully automatic Papad making machine. Generally, these machines are useful for large industries. These machines are effective for churning out large volumes of Papad at one go. This type of machines looks upon the entire process from mixing of ingredients to collection of ready-to-deliver Papad. These machines being durable, sturdy and high performing.

The major raw materials are pulses and rice flour. Additionally, you will need to procure salt and peanut oils. These are essential items for dough making. In addition, you have to procure different spices for flavoring purpose.

The list includes chili, cumin, garlic or black pepper. Also, you can use baking soda and preservatives sometimes. According to the desired taste, you can use several different ingredients like moong dal, alad dal etc. The shelf life of Papad is generally three month. A moisture proof packaging is important.

Some popular variety of Papad is masala Papad, Punjabi masala Papad, Bikaner masala Papad, aam Papad, moong special Papad, shrimp Papad etc. According to the desired taste and quality, you will need to select the right recipe.

Papad Making Process

First of all, you can produce Papad from different varieties of pulses. Additionally, you can also go for a combination of pulses as well. Firstly, you will need to add an adequate quantity of water with flour of pulses. Then, mix common salt, spices and sodium bicarbonate homogeneously to obtain a dough. After about 30 minutes, prepare small balls weighing around 7-8 grams of dough.

Then place these balls in Papad making machine or Papad press. Here you can produce circular Papad as per the size of the mold. The next step is drying. You can go for sun drying. However, the drying machine is the best option for commercial Papad making projects.

Finally, you have to pack the Papad. You can pack a lot of 25 or 50 Papad in polyethylene bags. In automatic Papad making machine, as we discussed earlier, you can perform the entire process with a single machine with minimum labor inputs.

Footnote: There are two crucial factors in this business. One is a recipe and another is marketing. Generally, the recipe is the first most important aspect. You must produce delicious and tasty Papad as per the taste of your target demographics. Additionally, proper distribution and sales promotion is the must for a small scale Papad making unit.