If you are mallu you know what pazham pori is. Or maybe you call it Ethakka appam. Either way, it holds a special place in every malayalee's heart. It's Kerala's favourite tea time snack and you can buy it anywhere in the state; from restaurants to road side carts to trains. I particularly have fond memories of eating this in the train and really looked forward to Kerala journeys because of it.
The trick to making these Banana fritters is using over ripe Kerala plantains (ethakka or nendra pazham). On the occasion of Vishu, I really wanted to twist this traditional snack, so I decided to serve it with a very untraditional rum sauce. You can obviously eat it as is minus the sauce, and it's still delicious. Remember to serve piping hot!
For the Fritters:
2 Kerala plantains (the riper the better)
3 tbsps all purpose flour / maida
1 tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp sugar (castor sugar preferred)
Pinch of Salt
Coconut oil to fry
For the Sauce:
2 tbsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 cloves
1 star anise
2 tbsp cream
1/4 cup rum
Heat oil in a pan. More often than not these fritters are deep fried. I don't see the need for it and uses a shallow frying pan instead. Peel the plantains and slit it lengthwise. In a bowl mix the flours, sugar and salt with water to form a thick paste. Dip the plantains and coat evenly. Fry till golden brown, turning occasionally to fry on all sides. Once golden brown, drain excess oil with a paper towel. Serve piping hot with tea or dust powdered sugar and drizzle with sauce below.
For the sauce:
In a pan, add the rum and the whole spices and let it simmer for 7-10mins. Remove the cinnamon, cloves and star anise from the rum. Now add sugar and stir continuously till sugar is fully incorporated. You'll get something that resembles caramel. Add the cream slowly, and step a little away while doing so as the mixture will start bubbling vigorously. Immediately remove from heat and keep stirring till cream is incorporated and the sauce thickens. Spoon over the banana fritters. You can store the leftover sauce in the fridge for upto a month. A spoon of this goes deliciously well with ice cream, cakes or even coffee.
