Baked Plantain Chips

Every time I buy plantains, it usually is to make a thoran or a kootu curry.  This time I decided to do something different and make chips.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil and grease well.

Peel 2 plantains (green bananas) and slice into very thin rounds. 

Toss with oil, salt, pepper and red chilli powder and mix well.

Arrange the rounds in a single layer on the baking sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until crisp, turning the chips over halfway through the process.

Pazham Pori (Plantain Fritters)

Pazham Pori also called Ethakkappam (Plantain Fritters), is a very popular snack in Kerala made using ripe plantains. ( This is what Keralites call Nenthrappazham/Kerala banana)

This has been one of my all time favorites. It is very simple to prepare yet so very tasty. It was the perfect accompaniment to our Saturday-evening tea.
Here’s how I made it.

Ingredients:
3 ripe plantains (Halve each plantain and make 3-4 slices from each half)
Oil for deep frying
For the batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup rice flour
Sugar (add depending on sweetness of the plantain)
½ tsp baking soda
A pinch or two of cardamom powder
Salt to taste
Mix everything in water to form a thick batter that coats each slice really well.

Method:
Heat the oil for frying.

Drop about three to four pieces of batter-coated plantain into hot oil, one at a time. Proceed to fry the rest in four or five batches.( If you put in too many pieces at a time, it decreases the temperature of the oil & it takes longer to fry & the plantains will absorb more oil than they normally would)

Fry till golden brown. (This should take less than a minute if the oil is at the correct temperature)

Drain off the excess oil on paper towels.

Serve hot with tea.

This is being sent to Mandira of

Ahaar who is hosting JFI: Banana.
This is also my entry for “What’s your favorite snack?” - an event being hosted by Hima of SnackORama.




Onion Bhajjis(fritters)
I had some batter left over after making the plantain fritters, so I went ahead and made some onion bhajjis too.

I just peeled and halved an onion and used a mandoline to get thin slices from each half, mixed it into the batter and fried it till golden brown.


Note: I would normally use chickpea flour (besan) to make the batter for this kind of pakoda, and spice it up with some green chillies or chilli powder.

Plantain/Raw Banana stir fry (kaya thoran)

Ingredients:

2 raw bananas

For the seasoning:

1 Tbsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp urad dal

A pinch of asafoetida

4-5 curry leaves

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Grated coconut

Method:

Peel, wash, cube & cook the plantain pieces in a little water along with some salt & turmeric powder till it is soft to touch but not mushy.

In a pan, heat the oil & add the ingredients for the seasoning (except chilli powder & coconut) in the order listed above.

Add the boiled cubes of the plantain to this along with the chilli powder & cook for 5-7 min on medium heat keeping the pan covered.Remove the lid and stir.

When the plantain cubes are fully done, season with grated coconut ( I used frozen coconut which had been thawed )

Serve hot as a side-dish for rice with some sambhar!