Ethakka(Nedran Pazham) Bonda | Sweet Plantain Balls - Guest post by Julie Saj of Erivum Puliyum -200th POST

I can't believe that I am reaching my 200th post given the pace at which I have been blogging so far ( 4 yrs now). LOL😆! But I still feel a sense of achievement for this little milestone. I hope and wish to post many recipes here after. Please wish me luck. While I invite you all dear readers, friends, family and loved ones to share the bouquet along with me,  also visually treat yourself with this super simple recipe. This time the recipe contribution is from a guest who is one of my oldest blog buddies-  Julie of Erivum Puliyum . We became friends instantly when we met virtually. She is one person who has always encouraged me with her comments and feedback right from my initial blogging days. Needless to say that I love her space and recipes and specially her photography which is always bright and vivid, capturing very detail of food. I love her Kerala recipes and bakes specially. Her White Chocolate Apple pie, Mixture, Kerala Pulm cake  are few recipes that I have been bowled over and the list is endlessI missed her big time when she took a break from blogging and am more than happy to see her back in action. Thank you so much Julie dear for coming over and making this post special with a lovely recipe, photography and the step wise pictures as well.  
Hi everyone. Sowmya and me have been introduced through blogosphere by our similar tastes (food blogging), I think three years back. Eventually we became good friends over chat, mail and blog posts in this virtual world. She is a very simple and humble person. She has a beautiful family with a cute little daughter. When she wrote to me if I could do a guest post for her, I was more than happy to be part of our space. She gave me the freedom to select a recipe and to let her know about the same. Thanks Sowmya for inviting me on your splendid blog. Her blog has many south Indian delicacies, ice creams, desserts,  shakes and sweets. Apple riceRaspberry Ripple Ice creamMangalore Bonda are few of the unique recipes that I fell in love with instantly. So as far as you all remember my guest posts are always something sweet to share the happiness with some of my dear friends. Here comes my share of sweet for all of you, Ethakka bonda or Nendran Pazham bonda ( Sweet Plantain Balls). A perfect sweet snack with a cup of tea and a fitting recipe for the 200th post.. Read on now.


We are a die hard fan of plantains(ethakka) and so its always available at home, ready to jump in my recipes, hi hi..There are many recipes with plantains that I loved and kids love too. Plantains(ethakka) is a good source of energy for kids and so can be consumed as a after school snack. This snack is similar to potato bonda or sukhiyan  but made with ripe plantains (ethakka). This has a good flavor of ghee with a soft filling inside and a perfect crispy cover. I saw a similar one in a cookery show and was instantly hooked by the idea. However, I made some changes to suit up to my family tastes. My kids were thinking it was potato bonda which they don't prefer much esp my little one. He loves sweet flavors and so his first expression with the bite was commendable. We all liked the snack just like all other Ethakka snacks. Do try this and enjoy with your family !!
Preparation time-20 mins
Cooking time-15-20 mins
Cuisine- Kerala
Category- Snack/ Sweet
Level- Easy
Serves-10-11 balls

INGREDIENTS
For cover
  • Maida /all purpose flour 1/2 cup
  • Rice flour 1/3 cup
  • Sugar 1 tbsp or 2 tbsp
  • Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
  • Turmeric powder a pinch
  • Salt to taste
For filling
  • Ethakka /plantain  2 sliced
  • Coconut grated 1/2 cup
  • Rava 1/4 cup/ Semolina
  • Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
  • Raisins 2tsp
  • Sugar 3tbsp
  • Ghee 2tsp
  • Oil to deep fry

METHOD
  • Heat a pan, add ghee. Fry the raisins when it is hot till golden brown. Drain on a plate.
  • In the same pan, add the sliced plantains and saute for 2 mins. Then add in the sugar and saute again for two more minutes. To this add, grated coconut and saute for a minute till the moisture is dried. Finally add in the rava and mix well on low flame. Add two tsp of water now, saute for two more minutes till its well coated with the mixture. Add the cardamom powder and the fried raisins, switch off flame and leave to cool.
  • In a bowl, add the flours, cumin seeds ,sugar, salt and turmeric powder. Mix well. Add in water slowly to make a thick batter like for pazham pori(ethakka appam). Leave aside for 20 minutes.
  • In the meantime, divide the filling in 10 or 11 equal portions and roll in balls. Keep aside.
  • Heat oil in a wok and by the time the oil turns hot, dip two or three balls in the prepared batter. Cover the filling with the batter on all sides.
  • Drop this in the hot oil and keep flipping all sides to cook evenly on moderate heat. Drain out excess oil and remove on a paper towel lined plate.
  • Repeat the previous step of frying the balls till you finish all the balls. If you have a little batter left out after frying the balls, then just drop spoonful of batter in the hot oil and finish off the batter,makes a good snack.
  • Serve warm with tea.

NOTES
  • You can add jaggery instead of sugar in the filling to make it even more healthy.
  • You can even add jaggery syrup for the outer cover batter.
  • Adding rava is optional, you may leave out if you don't wish. It just adds a binding to the plantains and soaks up moisture if any.
  •  Adding ghee adds more flavor to the snack, omit if you have any diet restrictions.
  • Next time, I would love to add a a tbsp of cashews/ almonds chopped for an additional crunch.

Comments

  1. Thanks a lot, Soumya for the opportunity... glad to have good friends like you around..Congrats on your 200th post,looking forward to many more milestones :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for making this post special for me dear Julie.

      Delete
  2. I am always in hunt for new variety snacks . My kids will love this one for sure😊

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's OK dear... as long as you take your own time and enjoy the process of blogging, the number of posts don't matter. And what a way to celebrate! Julie is one of the first bloggers I started following and definitely one of them who motivated me to blog... she is a sweetheart, isn't she? :) Never knew there were bondas made of nenthrapazham... the recipe seems to be something my girls will really love... bookmarked!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sweetheart... ad true that the process of blogging is more important than the number itself. Very correct. And yes.. Julie is a lovely person. I am just waiting to lay my hands on some Ethakka. Its found only in some Kerala stores in Little India. I ve bookmarked these as well. How was the holiday break?

      Delete

Post a Comment

It is very important to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness as it helps us focus on possibilities of improvements. A big thanks for taking time to stop by my space.Would love to hear from you. I am even more eager to know if you have tried any recipe from my space. Do leave your feedback ,suggestions and queries here. You can also reach me at tuma79@gmail.com. I hope you enjoyed surfing around. Comments tagged with link back to other sources, advertisement or promotions unless prior approved will be deleted straight away.

Thanks for your understanding

Happy Cooking
Sowmya

Popular Posts