Thai Style Banana fritters/ Kluay Kaek: A Street Snack, Gluten and Vegan Free

Banana fritters are not a new dish to me. I grown up in the southern part of India, Kerala where banana fritters/Pazham pori/ Ethakaappam are a common tea time snack and also available in most the small tea shop we call it chayakada. I make it so often in home as there is no availability of tea shop here in US.  Then you will think why I made Thai banana fritters. As you know I am a street food freak, and try to make some of the exciting street foods

I would love to visit Thailand because of its similarities to Kerala with luscious coconut trees, elephants (my weakness), its cuisine and its street food culture. When I saw a YouTube video where they were making Thai banana fritters I was interested in learning more about this dish.

From Leela’s blog I came to know that for Thai banana fritter’s they use Namwah banana similar one to lady finger bananas which we call it Kadali and lime stone. However in Kerala  we add kadali / lady finger varieties of banana in  sweet dishes like pudding. Not used for fried bananas. 

So when I decide to make Thai banana fritters I used my sweet plantains. In my house you can find plantains as we always love to eat them. My hubby is afraid to bring home unripe plantains, as I will convert them into chips. He thinks I will make it even if I have no time for it. Yes that is correct, when I see the raw; I will get some an itch to convert them into chips thinking my baby loves it. My hubby and my daughter loves banana chips and also the plantains when they almost ripe but not too ripe. If they become too ripe then they have black spotted skin and nobody wants (may be you need them to be beautiful to even take look at) them and to save them I will always convert into Plantain fritters, Fudge (Plantain halwa) etc. 

One fine day I thought, instead of making them into the usual fritters from my hometown, Kerala, why don’t I make Thai fritters for a change?  In Kerala style fritters, batter is made of All-Purpose flour, rice flour, a teaspoon or tablespoon of sugar and yellow food color or turmeric with ripe plantains. While in the Thai banana fritters they use Rice flour, Tapioca starch, white sesame seeds and grated coconut and medium ripe Namwah banana.  I fell in love at the first bit, it is crunchier with the coconut and sesame seeds, compared to flour alone version of my home town. From that day onwards I am using Thai style batter for plantain fritters.

I incorporated Thai style batter and Kerala style sweet plantains to make this delicious fritters.  However I have not used limestone, but used baking soda on and off. I found that with or without baking soda not much difference is noticeable.  I have also tried this batter for apples too, and apple fritters taste great too. 

So I you are in a mood to try to an exciting dish with burro bananas/ plantains you should think of making this dish. Here goes the recipe.

What you need

 Print recipe from here

 Rice flour:  ¾ cup

Tapioca starch: ¼ cup

 Grated Coconut:  1/3 cup (I used desiccated coconut, you can use fresh grated coconut)

Plantains: 4 ½ no (For traditional try Namwah banana/ lady finger banana)

Water:  1 cup

Sesame seeds: 2 tablespoon

Baking soda: ¼ teaspoon

Sugar: 1 tablespoon

Salt: 1/8 teaspoon

Canola oil: 4 cups

How I made

Peel and slice plantains into 4 inch slices and keep aside. First make a cut in the horizontal and then make another two cut longitudinally on a plantain.

In a bowl mix all rice flour, tapioca starch, sugar, salt, sesame seeds, coconut and water to make loose batter similar to dosa /crepe batter.

Heat oil in a thick bottom pan and it become hot or about 375 F, add plantain dipped in batter and  cook them for 3 minutes one side and flip the other side and cook for another 3 minutes until it cooked well or golden brown. You can fry 3-4 depending upon the vessel.  Remove them from oil using a slotted spoon. And strain extra oil using a kitchen tissue. 

Enjoy these crispy beauties with coffee or tea.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Yield: 27 no

Verdict: yummy

Will you make it yes I will

I am sending this April and Alea's Gallery of Favorites

Chef Mireille's Taste of Tropics: Plantain