Pazham Pori (Sweet Banana Fritters)

A very famous “naalu mani palaharam"(tea time snack) of Kerala (usually found in the road side tea-shops). Literally means “Banana Fry”, with the most preferred banana variety called “nendra pazham”. If you belong to Kerala, this snack needs no introduction. And for my other friends – it’s a deep fried snack made with ripe bananas, perfect on a rainy day (you know that's only an excuse ;) )with a hot cup of tea…let’s not wait for the rains…get started with me… 

Preparation time: 10-12 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

You need:
1 cup maida (all purpose flour)
3tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp urad dal powder (optional) 

3 ripe bananas (nendra pazham)
a pinch of turmeric powder
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar (alter depending on the sweetness of the bananas)
water (to make the batter)
sunflower oil to deep fry (coconut oil is used in Kerala)
 

Step-by-step: 

In a wide bowl, mix maida, rice flour, urad dal powder, turmeric powder (just for the colour),salt, sugar (if required) and water to make a thick batter ( if you’ve added extra water, add a little maida to get a thicker consistency and if it’s very thick, add a little water) 

Peel the skin off the banana and cut each into 3 equal parts and slit each part length wise into 2-3 pieces (depending on the size of the bananas) 

Heat oil in a deep frying pan 

Check the batter again to make sure there are no lumps (if there are any, mix again till smooth) 

Dip each banana slice in the batter till it coats well and deep fry (on both sides) till it turns golden brown in colour 

Fry all the slices in batches till you finish all of them

(I bet you'll want more if you've already tasted them by now)

Drain the excess oil and spread them on to a kitchen tissue 

Serve yummy Pazham Pori with a hot cup of tea or coffee!!

Sending this post to the event, “food for little champs" hosted by Indu Mathew
and "Healing foods' hosted by Krithi and Siri

Will be out of Bangalore on a personal travel...should be back with more mouth-watering recipes...keep watching this space..until then, make best use of all the listed recipes on my blog :)

Yours tastefully!!