Can I refrigerate bara dough?

Question

Can I make up the doubles dough in advance, and put it in the fridge before it rises or after it rises? Or should I just make it and let it sit on the counter. I want to fry them fresh, but don't want I wanted to make the dough up early

Answer 1

If your question is about Bara (Hindi), or Bora/Boda  (Bengali), Bada or Vada (South), or Bhalle (Punjabi),  as they are variously called --

1)  Best  fresh made batter from soaked lentils, usually Urad.

2)  A quick  substitution can be made from Urad flour. Also best made fresh and left to rest 10-15 minutes.



3)  Extra batter can be stored  can be stored in the back of your refrigerator (coldest portion) in an airtight container for a few days.

4)  Contrary to your thinking, the regular Bara/Vada, there is NO rising or fermenting of this batter -- if you do, your Bara will soak up a bunch of oil during frying.

5) There are some sour batters that are fried in the South --like Moru Appam, Unni Appam (salted version) or Kuzhi Panniyaram (usuallu made with left-over Idly batter).  These batters are generally very thick...some oil does gets absorbed here too.

Answer 2

Freeze the dough before allowing it to rise.  When you pull it out of the freezer, it will begin to warm.  Once it gets to room temp, it will resume its normal fermentation.