Pan Fried Bananas, Konkani Style (Kele Phodi Recipe)

Pan Fried Bananas, Konkani Style (Kele Phodi Recipe)

Beautifully cooked raw bananas that are crispy on the outside & soft & delicious on the inside. These pan fried bananas are spicy & can be served as a starter for lunch, dinner or served as a side dish along with a bowl of steaming hot rice & dalithoy. That would be pure decadence. 😍

Raw bananas are coated with spicy semolina & are cooked beautifully to make delicious raw bananas. They are called kele phodi in Konkani. Kele means banana in Konkani & phodi refers to preparation where veggies are pan fried or deep fried. No Konkani meal is complete without phodis. I pan fry one type of veggie almost every day. My meal isn't complete without them. 😋

Plantains are healthy & nutritious. Also, these are easy & quick to make. You should try these. You should also try 

Ripe Banana Fritters (Nendra Kele Phodi)

Bread Fruit Shallow Fry (Jeev Kadgi Phodi)

Pan Fried Kantola (Phagla phodi)

Shallow Fried Colocasia Tuber (Maaddi Phodi)


Ingredients:

  • 1 raw banana
  • 1/2 cup semolina (rava or chiroti rava)
  • 1 tablespoon or more red chili powder (depending on how spicy it is) (use a spicy red chili powder)
  • Salt to taste
  • A pinch of asafoetida powder (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder (optional)
  • Oil for shallow frying

Serves: 2-3

Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes


Preparation Method:

1. Mix semolina, salt, red chilli powder in a bowl. 

2. If you are using asafoetida powder & coriander powder for added taste. Mix them along.

3. Peel raw banana, slice them horizontally or vertically. The thickness of the slices is your choice.

The thinner the slices the faster they cook but get too crispy too. Thicker slices take a little extra time to cook & aren't a pleasure to eat. Not too thick, not too thin banana slices are perfect to eat. They get crispy on the outside, remain soft on the inside. 

4. Add salt to these slices in a bowl. Toss them so that each slice of banana takes in some salt. Let them rest for 3-5 minutes. 

5. Meanwhile, heat up a frying pan. 

6. Once, the pan's hot, coat the banana slices one by one with the semolina mixture & place them on the hot pan. 

7. Drizzle oil all over the banana slices.

Oil should just coat every inch of the banana slice on both sides. That ensures they cook beautifully. The more oil you add, delicious your bananas will taste.

8. Cook closed on high heat for 2 minutes. Then put off the flame & let them stay for 2 more minutes.

If left longer on the pan they tend to get hard.

9. Flip the banana slices & drizzle oil if needed on this side. Cook them again on that side for 2 minutes on high heat. Put off the flame & let them stay for 2 more minutes. 

10. Remove them off the pan immediately. This ensures they are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. If left longer on the pan they tend to get hard.

11. Serve them hot as a starter or as a side for lunch, dinner.

Tags: Ganesh chaturthi, chauthi