Shallow-fried Unnakkaya

Unnakkaya is a traditional snack mostly prepared in the Malabar regions of Kerala. It is made with semi-ripe Kerala bananas( nenthrapazham) with a sweet filling inside.

Basic info about the recipe
Cuisine          - South Indian
Serves          - 2-3 people.

Ingredients
1. Banana(semi-ripe) - 3-4 nos
2. Grated coconut         - 1 cup
3. Sugar - 10 tsp
4. Ghee - 2 tbsp
5. Oil         - 2 tbsp
6. Poha(Rice flakes) - ½ cup

Method: Cut bananas into 3 long pieces. Steam them in a steamer until it is well cooked.
Remove the skin and the black seeds in the centre of the banana.
Grind it to a fine paste without adding water.
Heat a non-stick pan and add the coconut, sugar and poha and mix well till the sugar is a bit caramelised.
Grease your hands with ghee and take a lemon-sized ball of the banana and flatten it on your palm.
Fill it with coconut mixture and cover it properly. Roll to the shape of unnakkaya.
Heat oil and ghee in a pan and shallow-fry them. Flip all sides to get a golden brown colour. Serve hot.
Notes: You can add cardamom powder, nuts and raisins to the filling.
Normally, unnakkayas are deep fried. I have shallow fried them.
Instead of mixing ghee and oil you can use either of the two alone.
Too much ripe bananas are not suitable for this dish.
You can increase the quantity of sugar as per your taste.