BANANA CHILI SNACK

BANANA CHILI SNACK
Megha Elsa Saju
Ingredients:
Fully mature unripe Robusta banana – 1 kg.
Hot red chili powder – 1½ teaspoons
Rice powder – 1 tablespoon
Asafetida powder – ⅟5 teaspoon
Powdered salt – 1 level teaspoon
Any cooking oil – to deep fry (coconut oil gives best taste)
To Make:

Use a sharp knife to remove a very thin layer of the outer skin off the peel of the banana, without removing the fleshy part of the peel. Now slice each banana lengthwise into 3 to 5 long slices depending on the thickness of the banana. The thickness of each slice should not be less than 7 mm.
Transfer the pieces to a bowl and sprinkle the powdered salt, the chili powder and the asafetida powder. Mix well Now sprinkle the rice powder. Mix again quite nicely.

Set a fry pan on high heat. pour in the cooking oil. As soon as the oil is hot (about to smoke), put in the banana pieces one by one taking care not to crowd the pan. When the bottom side is fried, flip over to fry the other side. If the banana is fully mature, it will puff up a bit. You can feel the outside of the podi getting hard and crispy. Lift out and drain all the excess oil. Serve hot. The inside will be soft. The podi will be both hard and soft at the same time. The peel will have a distinct texture and taste.