A papadam dough is often made from flour of which bean?

Papadam dough is often made with flour from black gram, a pulse also known as urad dal.

Black gram gives papadam its characteristic crisp structure when the thin dough is dried and then fried, roasted or toasted. A common recipe combines hulled, split black-gram flour with salt, black pepper, oil and sometimes an alkaline ingredient to help produce the familiar brittle texture.

Papadam is a thin, crunchy food from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly served alongside meals in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, or offered as an appetizer with chutneys, pickles, onions and other toppings. Spellings include papad, papadum and poppadom.

The answer is sometimes confused with mung bean because black gram and mung bean are closely related legumes. They are different species, however: black gram is Vigna mungo, while mung bean is Vigna radiata. Papadams can also be made from chickpea, rice, tapioca, millet or potato flour, but black gram is the classic answer to this question.