Plantain Balls

Plantains are a huge culinary asset for Keralites. our sunday breakfast, especially in Christian homes, is mostly steam-baked ripe plantains and poached eggs. we have our austere church-going and we save time by this quick breakfast package which is so nutritious and energy-giving. yeah, plantains are rich in carb and moms regularly insist on the ripe-uncooked-plantain-and-a-glass-of-milk combo. those banana fritters with a dash of cinnamon is our fave tea time snack. plantain balls are a derivative of the steamed plantain. we had three of them left over from our morning breakfast and i decided on this for my little girl to snack on.

This is from my mum-in-law's stack of recipes. she has the entire range of traditional Kerala recipes!

plantain-3
grated coconut-1/2 cup
sugar-2 tbsp
crushed cashewnuts-1-2 tbsp
cardamom powder to flavour
ghee
rice flour-a little
oil to fry

Deseed the steamed fruit and mash it nicely and evenly without any lumps. fry the coconut and sugar lightly in a pan in the ghee to cook the coconut. you can use fresh coconut also but the balls then have shorter shelf life. add this to the mashed plantain along with crushed cashew. flavour with cardamom powder. mix it well and make a reasonable-looking dough. roll into small balls and coat the balls with the flour. fry in oil and eat it hot with a huge mug of chai!



The plantain should not be over-ripe. or else the balls become gooey within. in case it happens toughen the batter with rice flour or maida. the fruit need not be completely steam-baked if you exclusively set out to make the balls. this avoids the probable stickiness of the dough.