January 15, 2007

Plantain Pinwheels

Plantain

I love the traditional appetiser(almost an entree)of Pazham Nirachathu..., plantain filled with coconut, nuts and raisins, sealed with maida and then deep fried in oil. It is one of the items on the Ramazan Iftar menu. I was always on the eating end of this particular preparation and never really learnt how to make it from scratch. My last few attempts with the willful plantains available here turned out to be disasters with the filling coming out, the bananas breaking up and so forth. If anyone has a foolproof method of making it, do send me the recipe.

Meanwhile, my friend was recently at a party in Calicut where she had this eclectic presentation of the plantain filled, and she suggested I try making it. It seemed simple enough from her description and had everything from the traditional recipe in its ingredients.
So I did and was thrilled to get all the flavors of the original recipe in a much more bite sized and low fat morsel. It works well as an appetiser as well as a delicious dessert with cinnamon icecream. Even as a weekend breakfast!


You will need:

1 Medium ripe Plantains
Coconut Grated-1/2 cup
Sugar- 1 tbsp( more or less as per sweetness required)
Cardamom Powder-1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts-2 tbsp chopped
Raisins- 1 tbsp
Ghee or oil-2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Saute the coconut,nuts and raisins on slow heat till it gives out its aroma and is slightly toasted. Add the sugar and cardamom powder and mix well till the sugar is blended in.

...If the banana is too ripe, it breaks down fast while cooking, and then you cannot roll it up easily...

2. Peel the bananas and cut into half. Now cut each half into about three thick slices along its length. Heat a non stick pan, reduce the heat to medium low and add the ghee or oil. Gently saute the slices for about 30 seconds on each side or till it turns golden yellow, which is an indicator that it is cooked. It is very important that the banana be just ripe. If the banana is too ripe, it breaks down fast(as you can see in my photo, some were just a bit too ripe.),and then you cannot roll it easily. It has to be just a bit unripe for the perfect texture.


3. Drain each slice onto paper towels. When it cools, spread a thin layer of the sticky coconut filling on each slice and roll it up carefully, securing it with a toothpick. Thats it, keep doing that for all the slices and serve hot or cold.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

mmm....that's interesting.
but i hav a doubt. what's the kind of plaintain/banana, ur using for all ur p/b based recipes???

all the one n same nenthrapazham? do u get it there?

lov
ki

Krithika said...

What a fantastic appetizer idea ! Love your presentation

Anonymous said...

This is neat!!!!! Great job Shaheen!!!! They look so perfect! :)

sra said...

They almost look like plump, golden fried prawns - when I clicked on your page, I could see only the top half of these and that's the impression it gave me!

Anonymous said...

Shaheen,I will definitely try this. I have made Kerala Paratha, which came out well. Thanks for that. Would you please give me recipes for egg less cakes/muffins? My children are allergic to eggs.

Priya

indosungod said...

Shaheen what a lovely dish. Looks fantastic.

Shah cooks said...

Ki, we get nenthrapazham from south america but its not ripened well. This recipe is using the same nenthapazham.

Krithika and Coffee, thanks and if you like plantains, u will like this recipe.

Sra, u are right, they do look like they were prawns! That was funny.But its veg so u can have it.

Priya, do try and let me know. I will post an eggless cake recipe.Meanwhile try these recipes from my fellow bloggers:
http://dailygirlblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/moist-chocolate-cake.html
http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2006/05/27/date-cake-eggless/
http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2006/08/14/banana-cake-with-rava-without-egg/

Indo, thanks and i know u will try it.

Anonymous said...

hey shaheen, it's been a while. hope you are doing great! btw, oooh that "pazham nirachathu" looks so yummy mummy! It's always been one of my iftar favourites. I totally loved your presentation. How creative!

Sri said...

Shaheen what a wonderful mallu appetizer...i never had this...wow looks beautiful too. I will be trying this out and will let you know :) Thankyou Shaheen for the recipe...BTW still have to try the barotta.

Vini K said...

Hi Shaheen..nice recipe and very new to me.Will have to try this one soon..

Nidhi said...

WOW! Shaheen, thats creative. Love the presentation too! A sweet dish on Skewers...interesting.

Thanks for sharing...

Enjoy, Nidhi.

Anonymous said...

Shaheen,

Thats a wonderful presentation and eye catching.Making this should have been mess free.For the Pazham Nirachathu recipe..You have to cut the whole banana into two or three pieces.Remove the skin and make a slit along one side and remove the seeds.Keep the filling...close it tight and dip in the flour and deep fry.Good Luck.

Bong Mom said...

Looks beautiful Shaheen and the pic and presentation leaves me speechless

Anonymous said...

oh wow! this looks fantastic! I can just imagine the flavors since I have never had the original dish. A must try on my menu, especially when I buy unripe plantains, stick them in the fridge and then forget all about them. When I pull them out eventually, they are neither ripe nor raw...this dish sounds perfect for that! thanks Shaheen!!

cheers!

Shah cooks said...

Babli, Happy new year!I was wondering where u were. Did I already ask u if u were from Calicut?

Sri, this is easier than the porotta so i know u will try this first!

Vini,Nidhi, thanks and I hope u like it.

Bervin,Thanks a lot, u make it sound so easy and wish u would take a snap and send it too. I can post ur recipe if u write it in detail.

Sandeepa, U are so sweet. I was agoninsing over half of them being too ripe and u made my day.

SAffron, Keeping the green plantians in the fridge would not let it ripen. If u want to ripen it, keep it uncovered on a sunny window ledge.Hope u will try making it.

Mishmash ! said...

Hi Mallugirl!! Ur plantain pinwheels reminded me of an evening snack my mother used to make when we were school goers and it was quite yummy too. Now I feel like trying this out,but we dont get good plantains here :( and hey, i liked ur presentation too; Very creative ! :)

Shn

archana said...

What a splendid idea, i will be making this soon for sure. Thank you.

Unknown said...

Delicious..and the pic. is just perfect.Never heard of this before, i make another dish with banana,sugar and ghee.This is mouthwatery and simple.Hope you will send this to AFAM-banana event.Thanks

Anonymous said...

Hi , it looks amazing , is there any way u cud bake it instead of frying?

Shah cooks said...

Anon, u could try baking it instead of frying it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Shaheen -- wow! How creative, and really beautiful! I could have a little bite right here! Wow!! :)

Anonymous said...

I am in! That is such a beauty. I am going to try this one.

Aarthi said...

This looks great, thanks for sharing!

Viji said...

Hi Shaheen,
Looks very delicious.I will try for sure:-)