Raw Banana or Plantain Pakora is another delicious snack. It is mostly served in south indian restaurants. I have never seen raw banana pakoras being served in north indian restaurants. Basically its a south indian recipe, though it is made in Maharashtra too. In north india we usually have palak pakora, bread pakoras, onion pakoras, mix veg pakoras and so on.
Banana is known as “Kela” in Hindi. Pakora is called as Bhajiya in Maharashtra. So in Hindi this recipe is called as Kela Bhajiya.
I remember in my childhood days, when I used to visit chowpatty in Mumbai with my parents, there was a bhajiya stall where one used to get awsome bhajiyas. I don’t know what recipe they had. Their mix veg bhajiyas had pakoras or bhajiyas made from veggies like eggplant, okra, potatoes, onions, capsicum and raw banana and green chillies. Whenever we used to visit the chowpatty, we always used to have pakoras from these guys.
Once I had ordered the raw plaintain pakoras in a very popular south indian restaurant in Matunga – Mumbai. Here again it was too good. Finally, I decided to make the bhajiyas at home. It turned out exactly the way I had it in the restaurant and the bhajiya vendor at chowpatty. So here is the recipe for Raw Banana Pakoras-Bhajiyas
Ingredients for Raw Banana Pakoras:
- 5-6 raw bananas
- 1 and half cup chickpea flour – besan
- 2 tbsp rice flour (optional)
- 1/2 or 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- a pinch of cooking soda
- salt
- oil for frying
- water to mix the batter
Method to make Raw Banana Pakoras:
1: Peel the bananas. Slice them into two, length wise. Put the slices in salted water so that they do not get discolored. You can also put them in plain water. I had small raw plaintains, so I just had to slice them vertically into two. If you have the longer plaintains, then cut the slices vertically and then cut them horizontally. Each slice should be of approximate 4-4.5 inches in height and 1/4 inch in thickness.
2: Prepare the batter by mixing besan, rice flour, cooking soda, salt, chilly powder, and turmeric powder. Add little water and mix. We need a thick batter. So avoid adding water once, as the batter may become thin. There can be no measurement for water as it depends on the quality of the chickpea flour. So its better to keep on adding little water and mixing, so that one gets the right consistency. This recipe requires a thick batter.
3: Now pat dry the banana slices on a kitchen towel. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Dip the slices in the batter and coat the banana slices completely with the batter.
4:Add the batter coated slices in the hot oil and fry the pakoras till golden brown.
5: Drain the fried plaintain pakoras on a kitchen tissues. Serve Banana Pakoras hot with green chutney or coconut chutney or tomato ketchup.
6: This delicious snack can be also served as a breakfast recipe, side dish or an evening snack.
you might also love to check these pakora recipes:
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