Of Trains, Time-Pass And Pazham Pori - Ripe Plantain Fritters - A Guest Post
These past 3 years of blogging, Facebook and Twitter have introduced me to many food bloggers and their blogs. Most of these bloggers live in different countries, even continents and come from culturally diverse and different backgrounds from mine. However our love for good food and desire to explore and discover this beyond our comfort zones and cultural boundaries is what keeps us cooking and blogging.
Some of these bloggers have become good friends of mine and though we haven’t met (yet) we often have long virtual conversations, mostly centred on food, and many a time beyond that. It’s fun to log into Twitter (and Facebook), even after a short break and take up conversations with friends, from where we had last left off.
Shulie Madnick of Food Wanderings is one such friend I met on Twitter. I don’t remember how we first got talking but we did and I found that apart from our love for food we had India in common. Shulie traces her roots to the Indian Jewish community though she grew up in Israel and now lives in the US. This shows up in her blog where her posts are an interesting mix of the East and the West, accompanied by her beautiful food photography.
Ingredients
- 4 plantains ripe
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup rice flour fine
- 1 1/2 tbsps chickpea flour
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3 to 4 pods cardamom , powdered
- 1 1/2 cups water (approx)
Instructions
- Peel the plantains and slice each one length-wise into two and each long half into 2 equal pieces (see photograph). Keep aside.
- Mix all the remaining ingredients, except water and oil, in a bowl and whisk to mix. All as much of the water to the dry ingredients and mix to a batter which is thick enough to coat the plantain slices thickly (somewhat like pancake batter consistency).
- Pour enough oil into a wok, or fryer to completely submerge the plantain slices when frying. Let the oil heat well but do not allow it to smoke. Using a fork, dip each plantain slice in the batter and gently slide it into the hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 slices at a time. If the slices clump together use a slotted spoon to separate them gently. Fry each slice on both sides till uniformly golden brown and crisp. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat with all the slices.
- Serve warm with tea or coffee, or as an in-between snack, especially on cold days. This recipe makes 16 pazham porichathu (plantain fritters).