PLANTAIN / RAW BANANA FRY

KACCHA KELE KI SABJI

BALE KAI PALYA

You Need: (To serve 4 people)

• Plantains/Raw Bananas (Kaccha Kela/Bale Kai) - (2 medium sized)
• Finely chopped Onions (Pyas/eerulli) - (1 medium sized)
• Garlic Paste/Finely Chopped Garlic (Lasan/Bellulli) - (1 tbsp/2-3 cloves) Optional
• Green Chillies (Hara mirch/Hasi Menasinakai) - (2-3)
• Grated Coconut (Nariyal/Turida tenginakai) - (2 cup)

• Turmeric powder (Haldi/Arisina) - ½ tsp

• Lemon juice (½ Lemon)
• Salt (To taste)
• Water - ½ cup

     For Seasoning (Tadka/Oggarane):

• Oil (for seasoning) - 1 ½ tbsp
• Mustard seeds (Rai/Sarso/Sasive) - ½ tsp
• Split Black Gram (Urad Dal/Uddina Bele) -  1 tsp
• Split Bengal Gram (Chana Dal/Kadale Bele) -  1 tsp 
• Dry Red Chillies (Lal Mirch/Kempu Menasu)- (2-3)
• Curry leaves (Kadi Patta/Kari Bevu) - (1-2 sticks)
• Asafoetida (Hing/Hingu) - (2-3 Pinch)

      To Garnish:

• Chopped Cilantro/Coriander leaves (Hara Dhaniya/Kottamabari Soppu) - (½ cup)

Method:

• Peel the outer skin of the plantains. Do not peel the entire skin. Cut them into medium size cubes.

• Grind Coconut and Green Chillies with water into thick paste and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan. Add Mustard seeds, Split Black Gram (Urad Dal) & Split Bengal Gram (Chana Dal) one by one. Saute till the grams turn light golden brown in color.
• Add Red Chillies, Curry leaves, Asafoetida. Toss for 3-4 seconds.

• Add finely chopped Onions, finely chopped Garlic/Garlic paste, Turmeric powder and little salt. Saute till Onion gets tender.

• Add cubed plantains, little salt & mix well. Saute for 2-3 minutes. 

• Add Coconut-Green Chilli paste. Mix well.

• Close the lid and cook for 5-6 minutes on a medium flame. Every minute once, open the lid and saute the mixture by lightly mashing/breaking the plantain cubes. This will let the Plantain cubes to absorb the Coconut-Green Chilli paste more. If the mixture is getting too dry, sprinkle some water. 
• When the Plantains get soft, switch off the gas/stove. Add Lemon juice & Mix well. Sprinkle some chopped Cilantro. 

Serve hot with Rice & Rasam or Chapathis :)

NOTE:

You can also prepare "Sweet potato fry" following the above recipe. Use sweet potatoes in place of plantains :)