Homemade Banana chips/ Kerala Plantain Salt and Masala Chips/ Nendran Chips

Kerala Yellow Banana (Plantain) chips are one of the very popular items from the Kerala region which is even exported to other countries. It is mainly due to the abundance of this variety of Plantain which is known to grow in the Kerala Region. These chips are a crunchy variety which go very well with a cup of Tea or Coffee.

Ingredients:

Raw Banana / Nendran – 2

Oil – for deep frying

Salt – ½ tsp

Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp

Water – 3 to 4 tbsp

For Masala Chips

Chat Masala – ¼ tsp

Red Chilli Powder – ½ tsp

Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – to suit taste

Black Salt – 1/8 tsp

Method:

For Masala Chips:

Mix Chat Masala, Chilli Powder, ¼ tsp of Turmeric Powder, Salt and Black Salt and combine them well. Keep aside.

For Salted Chips:

In another small bowl, take ½ tsp of Salt, ½ tsp of Turmeric Powder and 3 to 4 tbsp of water and mix well and combine well. Keep aside.

Cut the crown and tail of the Banana and discard. Make a little deep slit on the Banana lengthwise and peel off the skin.

Heat the Oil for deep frying.

With a slicer, slice the Banana directly into the Oil. When the chips are almost 75 percent fried, add 1 to 2 tsp of the diluted Salt and the Turmeric mix which we have prepared for Salted Chips earlier.

Fry till the chips become crisp. Transfer them to a paper towel so that excess Oil will get absorbed by the paper napkin.

For the Masala Chips, take the fried chips in a bowl. Sprinkle some Masala mix (which we have made ready for Masala Chips) evenly over the chips. Mix them by tossing so that the Masala Mix coats the chips evenly.

When the chips cool, store them in an air tight container.

Note:

1. If you find it tough to slice the Banana directly into the Oil, you can slice them into a tray and then transfer the slices to the oil.
2. The slices can be made vertically or horizontally – long slices or round slices.
3. While removing from the Oil, you may feel that they are not very crispy. But, when they cool down, they become crispy. So, do not burn the chips in the Oil.
4. Once the slices are transferred to the Oil, the Oil will start sizzling. Turn the slices with a big spoon once a while. Once the sizzling stops, it is the time to  remove them from the Oil and transfer to the Paper towels.