Jun 24, 2013

PazhamPori (Ripe Plantain fritters) ... our favorite tea time snack!


PazhamPori (pronounced – Param pori)  needs no special introduction to any Malayalee. It is a deep fried fritter made with ripe plantains. As the fritter is made with Ripe plantain or Ethapazham (pronounced - Etha Param) , it is also called as Ethakapoli by few.

My mom used to make this quite often when we were kids, but do you know when I actually started to love and crave for this tea time snack? During my college days and stay in hostels.
After a long and exciting day in college, my main motto would be to get back to ladies hostel before the evening snacks got over ;-P
In the hostel canteen, they would just cut a whole ripe plantain in half and dip them in maida batter and fry them until golden brown. I guess more than the fritters I guess it was size of the fritters that allured me :-)  I mean , my mom never served a plantain fritter that was half the banana itself!! The only downside was, we were allowed to take only One…so our next mission would be to wait till everyone finishes their tea and snack and hope for leftovers, thankfully by now my friends would also join in the waiting :-P  


PazhamPori with some sweet elaichi-ginger Tea is my absolute favorite way of having an evening snack and a few weeks back when I saw some super ripe and huge plantains at our downtown farmers market I had to grab a few. And I din’t have to think twice as to what I wanted to make with them.  


Mildly chewy on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside and golden brown, there's nothing you won't love about this snack and it's a fried snack I (we) don't mind enjoying anytime! And if your plantain is super ripe, then they literally melt in your mouth like how mine were. Delicious!


Mummy still doesn't prefer serving up half a plantain as a fritter, so I had to cut them up into small pieces…oh well, just eat few extra pieces and that’ll make your half plaintain :-P

And as it was made on a lazy weekend evening and my lil’Appu was happily sleeping, I took few step-wise pics as well. Ahem! those glasses are my dad’s, borrowed for my quick little photoshoot  ;-) 

Here's a pictorial on how I made these:
Peel and cut the ripe plantain however you like.

Into a wide bowl add 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Then add a heaped tablespoon of rice flour (the rice flour adds a bit of crunch once fried)

Add some turmeric, sugar and salt. Add enough water to make a smooth batter.

Batter shouldn't be lumpy and neither too thick nor too runny, just good enough to coat the plantain slices.

Fry the ripe plantain on both sides until they are nice and golden brown and mildly caramelized.

PazhamPori (Ripe Plaintain fritters) 

You’ll need:
Ripe plantain – 2 large or 3-4 small ones
All purpose flour (Maida) – 1 cup
Rice Flour (Ari podi) – 1 heaped tblsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Water – ¼ cup (more or less as needed)
Oil for frying (I used Canola oil and shallow fried)

Directions:
1.  Peel and cut the ripe plantain. I cut them in half and then into thirds.
2.  In a wide bowl mix the All-purpose flour, Rice flour, Turmeric powder, Sugar and Salt with enough water to make a batter that isn't too thick nor too runny.
3.  Heat oil in a pan. Coat the ripe plantain slices on all sides with the batter and fry them until golden brown.

Suggestions:
1.  If your plantain isn’t too ripe or sweet add more sugar to the batter mix (about 3-4 tsp).
2.  You may cut the plantain however you like , only make sure it is coated and fried well.
3.  You can deep fry if you’d like.
4.  Using Coconut oil would bring out a very authentic Keralite taste. 
5.  I have seen recipes that add baking soda or baking powder while making the batter, but I've never added it while making at home.


-Manju



40 comments:

  1. Oh yummy i love this anytime too.with tea heavenly!!

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  2. oh this is my favourite! I hardly make this at home because it's deep fried but after seeing this I might sneak into the market tomorrow morning and get some plantain, and hope for the rain! ( childhood memories=rain=cup of tea=hot fritter!)

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  3. raavile thanne kothipichallo manju... pazham pori is an absolutely favorite... enthu paranjalum, enthu kazhichalum, nothing can beat the taste of several pazham poris with chai just like u say... love that first pic... i suppose your dad's specs.. :)

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  4. Manju these are my favorite too but amma does not make them often cos they add up to calories :) your clicks make me drool

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  5. yummy Pazhampori ......... I love to eat chai kada style pazhampori ........ U made my mouth watering ...........
    http://subyskitchen.com/

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  6. How I wish I could grab one!!! Yummmy

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  7. Oh ente Manju, veruthe kothipichu... Ini ippo vegam ithu undaaki kazhikkendi varum, allel anghottu vannolo :) Tempting pics. Hope ur parents r doing good..

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  8. i loooveeeeee this, ur making me drool here

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  9. So delicious...now I know wat to do with ripe plaintains...poor me,,many times I ended up throwing ripe plaintains...never again...

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  10. looks super tempting n colorful...

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  11. kashtam..there i am desperately trying hard to get to dieting from today..and u are doing me no good at all !!!!.. :( verae onnum kandillae..enghanae kothipikkan....yummy payamporis deary ! and hey ! feel free to drop by my space too when you get the time. just posted on some handy parenting tips to "sane motherhood" on my "pick quicks" blog. Hope you will be a follower there as well. lets stay connected, beyond the kitchen.

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  12. I have never been able to muster the courage to try banana or plantain fritters coz they are fried but I am so tempted to do so. They sound ideal for the monsoon.

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  13. My husband grew up in Nigeria where his father was posted for more than thrity years. very ripe deep fried plantain is a popular snack there too but they don't coat it in any batter. Yours is an interesting version.

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  14. Oh Manju.l.This is called food torture...On top of that ur description of melt in mouth pazham pori yum kettapol pooryhiyayi...Appol sheri njan angotu vanekkam ketoo..pazham pori avide vachekku :)

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  15. Been ages i had this crispy beauties, love to finish that plate.

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  16. Such a nostalgic post. You reminded me about my hostel days and pazham pori we used to get there :) I liked how you used your dad's glasses as prop :)

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  17. I have never tried these before, they look delicious!

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  18. I love these Ethakaaapam. Growing up in coorg we had a wide variety of Malabar hotels around to explore these. Your looks just like the ones we used to have during childhood days. Love your presentation on the newspaper.

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  19. First time visiting your blog, and I love this. My mum's keralite friend used to make them for me, I loved it then and I enjoy it now. Good post.

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  20. They look fabulous! What a wonderful treat. Something I'd love to try.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  21. Enikku vaayil vellam oorunnu :( Love these to the core.. Even I have some similar pazhampori stories.. One of the greatest snacks I have ever had :D Urs looks perfect & crisp !!

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  22. Never heard of pazhampori.. Looks tempting.. Lovely clicks Manju :-)

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  23. looks lovely & delicious...mouthwatering!

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  24. We call it goreng pisang over here and its a popular teatime snack. It simply inviting and awesome.

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  25. Pahampori adipoli, I have few in my hand, going try it now. you tempted me with delicious pics.

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  26. Looks inviting :) though am not a big fan of ripe banana fritters !

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  27. I love plantain. Ive never had this..it looks delicious. Bookmarked!

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  28. Pazhampori is my favorite.....the clicks are awesome ...good job there :)

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  29. This recipe reminds me of my childhood!! Lovely!! :)

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  30. Chai and plantain fritters! I want these for snack too! :)

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  31. manju..

    try making pazham puri's with pancake mixture podi..will turn out to be crispy n puffy too..

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    Replies
    1. Hi Francy,
      Thanks for the idea...but if you r mentioning boxed pancake mix, I've never bought them. I always make my own pancake batter. Any specific brand of pancake mix you recommend?

      -manju

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  32. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  33. No specific brand as such...i used the brand(krusteaz) i had at home cos it was at the neck of the moment that i found out i ran outta APF....lol...so the result was puffy fluffy crispy pazham puri..relatives who were at home asked me for this special reciepe....hahahaa

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  34. Hi Manju,

    Usually this fritters can be made only with Ethapazham and not with ordinary banana. If we make it with normal banana, won't it get soggy inside since it will get cooked quickly compared to Ethapazham? Just to clarify, have you used normal banana or Ethapazham?

    Thanks
    Neela

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    Replies
    1. Hi Neela,
      I have used Ethapazham only. I have mentioned them as Ripe Plantain (that's the english term) And you are right , if we make with regular bananas it will get soggy. Hope that clears the doubt :-)

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  35. Thanks for your reply, Manju.

    Regards
    Neela

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