Baalekaayi sandige | Banana chips
By Leena Hegde, Puttanamane
Ballekaayi is raw (unripe) banana, and sandige is chips. To make banana chips, banana varieties like kari baale, baragi bale, or nendra bale are used.
Prep time
40 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Cool off time
0
Total time
1 hr 10 mins
Course
Snacks
Diet
Vegan, Vegetarian
Difficulty level
Moderate
Servings
~400 g
Ingredients
-
1 kg raw banana
- 1 tablespoon red chilli powder or as required
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds (Jeerige or jeera)
- ½ tablespoon carom seeds (Om / ajwain)
- ¼ teaspoon asafoetida (Ingu / hing)
- ½ tablespoon salt or as required
- Coconut oil as required
Cookware / Utensils
-
Plate
- Spoon
- Bowl(s)
- Frying pan
- Deep frying spoon
- Mixer or Mortar and pestle
- Sieve with big holes or Strainer colander
Instructions
Instructions
Preparation
- Wash the raw bananas thoroughly.
- Peel them.
- Slice them and spread on a plate or muslin cloth to dry for about 20 -30 minutes.
- Heat a pan. Add ½ tablespoon cumin seeds and ½ tablespoon carom seeds.
- Dry fry them on low heat until they turn aromatic.
- Transfer the spices to a dry, clean bowl. Let them cool.
- Then take the spices in a mixer jar. Add ¼ teaspoon asafoetida.
-
Powder them.
Note: Mortar and pestle can also be used to powder the spices. - Take powdered spices, red chilli powder, and salt in 3 separate bowls, and keep aside.
Frying and making banana chips
- Heat 1 cup of oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot enough, add sliced banana.
- Immediately after adding the slices, stir them with a deep frying spoon or slotted spoon.
- In between, stir and turn over the banana slices.
-
Keep turning and frying them until they become crisp.
Note that bubbles and sound subsides when the banana slices turn crisp and cooked well. - Remove the crispy banana chips.
-
Place the banana chips in a sieve or colander. This helps in draining the extra oil.
Note: Place the sieve or colander on a pan or bowl so that the extra oil will be collected in that pan or bowl. - After 2 minutes transfer banana chips to a mixing bowl.
- Add salt, powdered spice mix, and red chilli powder as required. Mix well.
- This way, fry all the banana slices in batches.
- Once the banana chips cool down to room temperature, store them in a clean, dry, and airtight container.
Step by step guide
How to make banana chips
Preparation
1. Wash the raw bananas thoroughly.
2. Peel them.
3. Slice them and spread on a plate or muslin cloth to dry for about 20 -30 minutes.
4. Heat a pan. Add ½ tablespoon cumin seeds and ½ tablespoon carom seeds.
5. Dry fry them on low heat until they turn aromatic. Transfer the spices to a dry, clean bowl. Let them cool.
6. Then take the spices in a mixer jar. Add ¼ teaspoon asafoetida.
7. Powder them.
Note: Mortar and pestle can also be used to powder the spices.
8. Take powdered spices, red chilli powder, and salt in 3 separate bowls, and keep aside.
Frying and making banana chips
9. Heat 1 cup of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot enough, add sliced banana. As soon the banana slices are added, oil bubbles with a sound. Immediately after adding the slices, stir them with a deep frying spoon or slotted spoon.
Note: The left-over oil is not used for any cooking purpose. So, I fry with little oil in batches and add oil in steps as needed.
10. In between, stir and turn over the banana slices.
11. Keep turning and frying them until they become crisp. Note that bubbles and sound subsides when the banana slices turn crisp and cooked well.
12. Remove the crispy banana chips.
13. Place the banana chips in a sieve or colander. This helps in draining the extra oil.
Note: Place the sieve or colander on a pan or bowl so that the extra oil will get collected in that pan or bowl.
14. After 2 minutes transfer banana chips to a mixing bowl.
15. Add salt, powdered spice mix, and red chilli powder as required.
16. Mix well.
17. This way, fry all the banana slices in batches. Once the banana chips cool down to room temperature, store them in a clean, dry, and airtight container.
Notes
-
Banana: Only specific banana varieties like kari bale, baragi bale, nendra bale and similar kind are used for making chips. Banana should be raw (unripe). Otherwise chips might not become crisp. Usually chips are made on the same day when it is picked from tree.
Slice the banana medium thick as shown in the picture in step 3. Slice should not be either too thin or too thick. Banana chips taste great when sliced into medium thickness.
- Oil: Coconut oil is used for frying for its freshness, flavor, and longer shelf life. If you cannot source fresh coconut oil, then you can use sunflower or groundnut oil. When frying, oil is added in steps as needed as fried left-over oil is not used anymore for any cooking purpose. It is used in non-cooking, like oiling machines.
-
Frying: Fry chips on medium heat. The banana chips absorbs a lot of oil on a low heat, and on a high heat, chips are not cooked properly and evenly. Chips will become soft soon if not fried properly.
Banana chips also absorb more oil if the banana slices are too moist. So let them dry for some time before start frying.
Frying time varies with the quantity of oil used, the quantity of chips and the thickness of the slices that are added to oil, kadai or pan thickness & make, and heat applied.
- Storage: Store banana chips in a clean, dry, airtight container and keep in a cool, dry place at room temperature. Use clean, dry hand or spoon to take them out.
- Shelf life: Banana chips stay fresh and crisp for about 3 months, and sometimes even more than that. However, banana chips shelf life depends on type and quality of the ingredients used to make them, frying, storage, room temperature, and weather condition.
