Kelyachi Muluke (Banana Fritters)

Bananas are well known for their health benefits and are therefore an excellent food for babies and children too. They are rich in potassium and magnesium that may help manage blood pressure and in turn diabetes, lower the risk of stroke, and keep your bones healthy. The soluble fibre in them can help keep your cholesterol and blood pressure in check, and help ease inflammation. A ripe banana is a good source of prebiotics or in other words the carbs that feed the good bacteria in the gut, helping to keep it in a healthy condition, pectin (another fibre) may help prevent constipation and soften stools, and the relatively high content of Vitamin C in them helps protect you from the effect of free radicals. It’s important to note that you should always have them on an empty stomach, especially to reverse lifestyle diseases like hypertension and diabetes.

Recipe credit: Darshana Muzumdar

Makes around 40 small fritters and serves 4 as part of a traditional Indian breakfast or as a snack.

Ingredients

4 overripe bananas
½ cup jaggery (more if the bananas are not sweet enough)
¼ cup broken cashew nuts
¼ cup finely chopped coconut pieces + ¼ grated coconut or ½ cup fresh grated coconut
1 cup or less semolina to make a soft dough
3 cardamoms, freshly powdered
A pinch of salt
Cold pressed groundnut oil to deep fry

Method

Peel the bananas and mash them well. Add jaggery and mash till the jaggery is no longer lumpy and the mixture is a smooth paste.
Add cardamom powder, broken cashew nuts, coconut, salt, and enough semolina to make a very loose dough. The amount of semolina needed will depend on the moisture content in the banana-jaggery mixture. Allow the dough to rest for at least 15 minutes for the semolina to soak up the moisture and cook easily. If the dough dries up and becomes malleable, add a spoonful of water at a time to make it a bit loose.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan and drop balls of the mixture into it. Fry evenly turning the balls around to make sure they are cooked well. Remove and serve hot. These can also be served at room temperature but won’t be as crisp as when they are freshly fried.
The dough can also be spread onto a frying pan to make small pancakes. These pancakes will be dense and delicious when cooked.

Note: Use a finer semolina for more crispness.

These are a great snack for children to have during play time or to take to school.

For the Whole-Food Plant-Based (WFPB) version:

Use date paste instead of jaggery.

Do not deep fry. Grind the coconut with as little water as possible and use this instead of the grated/sliced coconut.

Make the dough soft enough so it can be spread on a pan. Heat a cast iron frying pan and spread two or three drops of oil with an onion or potato cut into half to coat the surface to prevent the dough from sticking to the pan. Drop a ladle of the dough and spread it evenly to a thickness of half an inch. Once fried golden brown flip it over to fry the other side. This dough may stick to the pan slightly so take care while flipping them over. Without adding any more oil fry the remaining dough one ladle full at a time. If the pan is big you could try making smaller sized pancakes three or more at a time. The coconut in the dough releases enough oil so there is no need for any more to be used.