Kale Vadai – A Fresh Take on Masala Vadai

My Kale Vadai recipe takes inspiration from one of my favorite childhood memories of being propped up on my grandmother’s kitchen counter, watching her dole out hot masala vadais for our family get-togethers. These bite-sized pockets of fried lentil were steaming hot but packed a ton of flavor with minimal ingredients. Yes, the recipe was special, but it was Paati’s kai manam and the memory of it that has me soaking lentils when I want to feel comforted. Here is my modern twist to Paati’s traditional masala vadai recipe.

The 90s things lost in translation

Back when Madras was Madras, restaurant eating was not a regular affair for most middle-class Indians. In the 90s, street-side stalls and thallu vandis were quintessential to the culture in Madras. The vandikarans never called it Masala Vadai but instead piped Masal Vadey as they went through every street. We looked forward to the brown paper bags of kutti samsas and *suda suda* vazhakka bajjis from nearby stalls. And if it happened to be a rainy day, we were in for a real treat.

But the best part of street-side eating was how they served these snacks – placed gently in dainty little newspaper cones and laid piping hot alongside glasses of cutting chai. We lived for this stuff. We wanted to see the oil ooze and blot the newspaper. If the paper was printed off a poor press, we could even see the ink run off.

Now that I live in the Bay Area, my heart meanders to Chandni Chowk in Fremont for that street-style experience. It’s a lot of fun, but sometimes I wonder if my daughter will get the hype of these newspaper cones the way we do. What is an experience to them is an emotion to us.

Why Masala Vadai is the best snack from Tamil Nadu

I never liked the smell of onions growing up. The pungency was too much for my underdeveloped olfactory senses. As an adult, I get why onions combined with fried curry leaves are at the very core of Tamil cuisine.

Despite the plethora of delicious snack recipes that emerge from Tamil Nadu, Masala Vadai remains a brilliant recipe that automatically earns an honorary seat at the evening tea time table. Their uncompromised ability to hold a crunchy exterior with a hearty, savory texture on the inside makes them a no-brainer when planning snacks for a crowd. If the frying wasn’t enough, the batter is delicately fragranced by aromatics like fennel seeds, onions, and curry leaves.

What to do with your leftover Masala Vadais

Some of the best dishes come from leftovers and unsuspecting ingredients. Like the Uthappams that get made with the Adi Maavu, quite literally translating to the batter at the bottom, Masala Vadais are great for repurposing into flavorful South Indian dishes. Simply store the batter in your freezer until you’re ready to use it.

My favorite way to repurpose leftovers is by soaking chunks of masala vadais in a base curry that has the same floral notes as a Kurma. If anything, the coconut-rich Kurma makes the Vada Curry extra indulgent.

Masala Vadai with a Green Twist

My favorite kind of Masala Vadai is Keera Vadai. Just because there is spinach doesn’t make it any healthier, but the umami component added by the spinach makes it a touch tastier than the original. When you live abroad with access to greens that were not so common in the Kaikari markets of Chennai, you incorporate them into your diet.

I added a bunch of chopped, crunchy Kale that I picked up from the weekend farmer’s market in my neighborhood, marrying the best of both my worlds. Every bite of the Kale Vadai took me back to the days of dunking into newspaper cones and sipping glasses of cutting chai. But most importantly, it brought back the memory of Paati’s kai manam.

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