Indian food is loved by people all over the world. Most likely, it’s because of the fantastic blend of sweet, spicy, and savory flavors. From tasty samoosas to curry, masala, biryani, and tandoori chicken, your taste buds will come alive with all the amazing, delicious options you have.
And what about Medu Vada? If you’re making it and you have leftover batter, what other ideas are there for tasty treats? Certainly, if you’re a savory food lover and you’re visiting India, you will hear about this popular South Indian snack.
It’s a category of fried savory foods such as donuts, fritters, or dumplings and is usually enjoyed for breakfast or as a casual snack. Most times, even with the different variations of medu vadas, the lentils are soaked, after which they are ground to make the batter
Most popular is when the medu bada batter is formed into a ring-donut, with the inside having a soft texture and the outer part being crispy.
A typical vada is usually made with deliciously healthy ingredients, such as lentils and vegetables, and a wonderful selection of seasonings, herbs, and spices. The word medu means soft, and vada means fritters.
What To Do With Leftover Medu Vada Batter
Made with black lentil batter, the question now is: what do you do with any leftover medu vada batter you have?
- Freeze the batter
If you have some medu vada batter left over, simply refrigerate it for later use. Freezing the batter is a great way to be able to make your favorite tasty snack whenever you want.
So you can actually make the batter ahead of time, and when you are ready to fry it, simply allow the batter to thaw to room temperature first and then whip it to aerate it. Not only can the batter be refrigerated and reused, but so can the leftover medu vadas.
You can freeze the batter or the medu vada in zip-lock or freezer bags or in disposable dishes or pans. You can bring them back to their original crisp state by popping them into your air fryer.
- Mouthwatering medu vada pancakes
Homemade pancakes are always such a treat, and the best thing about them is that they are so surprisingly simple to whip up. You’re guaranteed to have the ingredients in your kitchen too, such as flour, baking powder, butter, and eggs.
There are always variations with a pancake recipe, and you can also use yogurt or buttermilk. Why not add your leftover medu vada batter? You’ll have a stack of savory pancakes ready to eat in a jiffy.
Why settle for plain medu vada pancakes from your leftover batter when you can have some delightfully filled medu vada pancakes instead?
In fact, there are all kinds of ways you can change the pancake recipe to suit your tastes and even more ideas for fillings. A favorite with the local Indian people is mashed potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and cheese.
- Stuffed medu vadas
Take your plain medu vada batter and make stuffed medu vadas. You can do this by filling them with some grated cheese. Once you have them ready with the cheese, bake them for about 20 minutes in the oven.
It becomes a fabulously tasty snack when you bite into the crunchy outside and reach the soft, cheesy center. You don’t have to be limited by cheese either, and there are several other ingredients that you can use. Batata Vada, as an example, is a vegetarian Indian dumpling.
It’s an Indian street food served with green chutney. These dumplings are a great idea for using up your leftover medu vada batter. We’ve mentioned batata vada, where the batter is made from dry gram flour instead of whole lentils and with a spicy potato stuffing.
- Medu vada bread
For this recipe, you will need just a few items that you probably already have in your kitchen. This will be bread, rice flour, potato, suji, yogurt, and seasonings such as ginger paste and red chili powder.
This instant medu vada bread can be prepared in less than 20 minutes and then served with chutney. The bread vada is also crisp outside and soft inside. The recipe will require 6 or 7 slices of white or brown bread.
There are many bread medu vada recipes online, and you can follow the recipe step by step, with some having pictures as a further guide.
- A feast of favorites
The cool thing about leftover medu vada batter is that it never goes to waste. There are so many mouthwatering treats with medu vada that deliver irresistible flavor.
The idea of a healthy snack-liquid-drink appeals to many people, and the medu vada batter makes a delicious addition to thicken a yogurt smoothie. Next time you’re entertaining friends or family, you can serve them with small pieces of medu vada as an appetizer.
In fact, they are traditionally paired with coconut chutney and sambar, making a tasty snack for guests. You can make bite-sized donut shapes served with dips with different spices and herbs.
Snack or main meal medu vada selections
We live in difficult times, and there is no reason to throw out leftovers. The added benefit of leftover foods is that they are both economical and time-saving.
Of course, how long foods can remain safe in the refrigerator or freezer will depend on the kind of food it is and how it was prepared. We’ve listed five ways you can use up leftover metu vada, but there are probably more.
A wise move is to eat refrigerated leftovers within 3 to 4 days of their being refrigerated. Easy to prepare, this is uncomplicated cooking where you can deliver authentic Indian flavors for a casual snack or even as part of a larger meal.