Vazhakkai Varuval | Plantain (Raw Cooking Banana) Fry

My 173rd recipe, "Vazhakkai Varuval (Plantain Fry)", a super crispy and delicious South Indian side. During my childhood, even when I was a non-Vegetarian I did not like to have chicken or mutton a lot. Seafood was my favorite. Especially the fish fry my mom used to prepare with seer fish. It is spicy, crisp on the outside and moist, juicy on the inside. Ever since I stopped eating non-Vegetarian, the one dish I particularly missed was that seer fish fry my mom made. It was not the meat I was missing very badly. I find veggies like yam, taro root, potato, etc. to taste even better. It was probably the style of cooking which turned the fish into a mouth watering dish. So once I moved to the US and started to cook on my own, I wanted to make a vegetarian side with the same flavors my mom used while making the fish fry. The end result was this Vazhakkai Varuval which is perfectly flavorful, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The perfect side to have along with rice and my favorite sambar. I can as well munch away few of these just as an evening snack or appetizer 😉

Vazhakkai Varuval

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Prep Time 3 mins

Cook Time 12 mins

Total Time 15 mins

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• Plantain Raw Cooking Banana - 1
• Salt - ¼ tsp + ¼ tsp
• Sambar powder - 1 ¼ tsp or Dry Red Chilli - ½ tsp + Coriander powder - ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
• Ginger Garlic paste - ½ tsp
• Rice flour - ½ tsp
• Lemon extract - 4 drops adjust per taste
• Oil - As needed

Instructions

 

• First chop off the ends of the plantain and peel the skin. Cut it into half and then further slice it into thick pieces.
  
   
  
   
• Boil water along with ½ tsp of salt. Add the plantain to the water and cook until the plantain is 75% done. It took me about 2 mins. Pull out the plantain slices from the water and leave them to cool down.
  
   
• In a separate plate, add the ¼ tsp salt, sambar powder, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, rice flour and lemon extract. Add sufficient water to make a thick paste.
  
   
• Spread the paste evenly on the cooked plantain slices. Add little water in case the paste is too thick to coat the slices. Let it sit for atleast 5 mins to marinate.
  
   
• Heat a tawa / flat pan with oil. Add the plantain slices and fry both sides in medium flame until golden and crispy.
  
   
• Drain excess oil on a paper towel and serve hot.
     

Notes | FAQ

- Do not over cook the plantain slices. It would become difficult to roast. Cooking time would depend on the thickness of the slices.
- Adding sufficient oil while frying would give a nice crispy roasted plantain.
- Since the plantain slices are already cooked, it would not take much time while frying. But make sure the raw smell of the added masala powders are gone.
- Adjust the quantity of ingredients based on the size of your plantain.