Bananas always bring back fond & loving memories of my dear maternal grandmother… My grand mom loved bananas! She could literally live on bananas. She would enjoy plain bananas, fritters, pancakes, bananas in curds… Very often she would make fritters with wheat flour, maida & rawa. We would be freaking on it at breakfast, relishing it as a mid morning snack at school & couldn’t wait to eat at evening tea! When I returned from school, I would get this sweet aroma even before I reached the main door. Oh Boy! even today, I go BANANAS when I see fritters! 😀
When I visited Kerala last October, whenever we had a stopover I couldn’t help admiring the various banana fritters lovingly displayed in the showcase of eateries. I found all sorts of fritters made with various types of bananas.
This nutritious & healthy fruit provided by nature will always be numero uno in my list of favorite & popular fruits even though in today’s modern world dieticians specializing in drawing up diets for lean bodies look down upon it & emphasize that it is loaded in calories & to avoid it.
Bananas have innumerable health benefits. It is a rich source of potassium, low on salt & is a natural source of iron. It aids weight loss, eradicates depression, constipation & anemia, controls blood pressure, boosts brain power, is a natural antacid which helps soothe & relieve heart burn, helps in maintaining sugar levels & hence helps in avoiding morning sickness, helps in calming the nervous system as it is high in B vitamins, controls stress, & PMS as it is a natural mood enhancer, fights against intestinal disorders like ulcers, cools the body, promotes bone health, provides energy for a work out at the gym & also to athletes, sportspersons. Bananas helps smokers to quit smoking & help in controlling withdrawl symptoms, cuts the risk of death by strokes, using of inner banana skin helps in getting rid of warts & mosquito bites in a natural way. So how about reaching out for bananas when you are hungry or need a cure? Bananas are considered as a best value food so make the most of it in any form!
Today’s post is simple, quick & easy. If you have bananas which are ripe or slightly overripe then convert it into a milkshake, pancake, banana bread or how about sweet & wholesome fritters which are equally good for growing children, adults, athletes, elderly or even persons who are recovering from an illness. Here’s to Bananas… Just enjoy & relish fritters because you love them & feel like eating them!! 😀
Ingredients :
- 2 cups Maida (Refined Flour)
- 2 tbsps. Rawa (Sooji)
- 3 ripe Bananas
- ¼ cup Milk (room temperature) or enough to mix to thick batter
- ½ tsp. Baking pwd.
- ½ tsp. Vanilla Essence
- Sugar to taste
- Salt to taste
- Vegetable Oil for deep frying
Procedure :
Peel the bananas & mash roughly in a sufficiently large bowl.
Combine together maida, rawa, baking pwd., sugar & salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the mashed bananas.
Add vanilla essence & enough milk; a little at a time & mix to form a lumpless thick batter.
Mix gently taking care that you do not mash the banana completely… they should be slightly lumpy.
The batter should be of dropping consistency but like a thick cake batter.
Set aside for about 10 mins. so that the flavors meld & the rawa soaks through.
Heat sufficient oil in a wok/kadhai till hot.
Reduce heat to med. & drop small blobs of the batter either with a deep spoon or with your fingers in small batches.
Do not over crowd. Maintain the temperature of the oil or the fritters will turn soggy.
Deep fry the banana fritters evenly & uniformly till golden brown. Baste the top of the fritters with hot oil so that they puff up.
Adjust heat if they are browning too quickly.
Lift the cooked banana fritters using a slotted spoon & drain thoroughly.
Transfer to a serving plate lined with absorbent tissue paper/towels.
Serve hot with at breakfast or at tea time.
Tips & Variations :
- You may use wheat flour instead of maida (refined flour) if you prefer.
- To flavor the fritters you may use nutmeg pwd., cardamom pwd. or cinnamon pwd. instead of vanilla essence.
- You can include an egg if you so prefer.
- Instead of milk you may use water or coconut milk.
- Use of rawa is optional but using it gives the fritters a slight crunch.
