Pazham Pori | Banana Fritters | Tea Time Snacks

Today's recipe is our family favorite - Pazham Pori. This is a speciality dish from Kerala and I have had the luxury of having it at my BFF's place. Although it is super simple to make, it tastes great - especially with a hot cup of chaaya/tea 🙂 My most memorable incident regarding this recipe is during our honeymoon. We were staying in a boat house in Allepey and were getting royal treatment! The beautiful backwaters, coconut trees, rising and falling sun, a number of sea birds and a lot of beautiful boat houses. We literally had nothing to do but to sit back and relax. Our boat house was managed by three men who were very friendly. They cooked some great food and pazham pori was one of it. On evening, when we were asked if we would like some tea and snacks, we readily agreed and we were treated with some golden fried banana fritters and hot tea.

These fritters are specifically made with a special type of banana called "Nendran" which has orangish yellow fruit and is a little firm. It withstands heat and on cooking does not go into a mush. The mild sweetness from banana and crispy outer coating makes this one of the best snacks to serve along with tea. I make this at home, whenever I can find these variety of bananas on husband insistence. I have not tried it with any other banana variety, do let me know if you have ever tried.

Check out the other tea time snacks here.

To make Pazham Pori | Banana Fritters

Servings: 2-4
Time: 20 mins
Difficulty: Easy
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What I used -

Bananas (Nendram), 2
Maida/All-purpose Flour, ½ cup
Sugar, 2-3 tsp
Salt, a generous pinch
Turmeric Powder, a generous pinch
Water, as required
Oil, for deep frying

How I made -

1. Peel off the Bananas and cut them into two halves. Then, cut each half vertically to have 3-4 pieces with 2mm thickness.

2. In a bowl, mix maida, sugar, salt and turmeric. Add water little by little until the batter is thick. On touching the batter, it should coat your fingers. If it's too thick, some water can be added.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep pan. Dip each slice of banana into the batter and gently drop it into the hot oil.

4. Keep the flame on medium and cook until golden brown. Remove it on a tissue paper. Repeat the same for rest of the banana slices.

5. Serve hot with tea/coffee.

Note -

Ensure that the bananas are not overly ripe. The Nendran variety of banana works the best for this recipe.
Turmeric is optional - I like the golden yellow color that it gives to the pazham pori.
Additionally, a tablespoon of rice flour can be added to give extra crispness to the fritters.
Adjust sugar quantity as per preference. Too much sugar can caramelize the batter too quickly in hot oil.