Balehannina Appa

My son loves bananas. So its a regular fruit at my place. But some days, he just does not want to eat them. This ultimately results in bananas lying around for a couple of days. By the time i realize their presence , they would have turned towards the brownish side and even I do not want to eat them. During such times, I usually make appas, Mangalore buns or the banana bread (that's the most recent addition). So in this post, I will be writing about "appas". In the authentic recipe of appa, you have to grind the rice with coconut etc. This recipe that I will be sharing needs very less prep work.My mom's "appas" always come out great. She told me that instead of using rice or even maida, you can use wheat flour and its much more healthier.I usually add a pinch of cardamom powder to the batter, but  you can always substitute with roasted sesame seeds.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Large Bananas (Ripe) - 3 
2. Grated Jaggery - 1/2 cup (You can change the quantity depending on the sweetness you desire)
3. Salt - 1/4 tsp or as per taste
4. Wheat flour - approximately 1 cup (More or less to adjust the consistency of the batter)
5. A pinch of cardamom powder (about 1/4 tsp)

 METHOD:

•   Mash the bananas with the masher. Add the grated jaggery, salt and cardamom powder to it and mix till jaggery gets dissolved. At this stage the mixture will be very watery.

• Then add the wheat flour 1/2 cup at a time. Continue adding the wheat flour till you get the right consistency. By right consistency, I mean that the batter has to be thick and not runny. You should be able to take little batter in your hand and put in the oil.

• Heat oil for deep frying.
• When the oil is hot, put a spoon of batter in to the hot oil. You can either use a spoon or just hands. I like to wet my hand slightly and then put the batter in to the oil. I like to make small appas because larger the appas, more time is needed to cook them. Cook them in medium heat. If  you cook them in high heat, the outer side will brown faster but inside will still remain uncooked.

• Serve the appas warm:)

I am sending this recipe to the "Healing foods event "hosted by Krithi and Siri of "Cooking with Siri"