Pazham Nirachathu / Stuffed Plantain

                Mom in law had sent a bunch of plantains which grew in the kitchen garden. I was on the eager wait to get them ripe. We ate the first batch, steamed and mixed with coconut milk. It is one of my hubby's childhood favourites. I hadn't decided what to do with the next batch, when my better half suggested, "you haven't prepared Pazham Nirachathu for us yet. Why not try it now?". So it was going to be Pazham Nirachathu, another Malabar Dish which is usually made during Iftars or on special occasions.

               Slitting the plantains and filling them proved to be challenging for me. When I had watched my mom do it, I had thought it to be too easy. But when I filled one slit and moved over to the other, the filling from the previous slit was slipping out. So I made only three slits in the plantain (Some people makes four) and was with  much efforts that I managed to hold everything in place until I covered the slits with the batter and deep fried them. And was really happy with the outcome. It looked like Pazham Nirachathu perfectly made and tasted quite the same... :)

              Pazham Nirachathu is almost similar to Unnakkaya which I had previously posted. But in Unnakkaya, steamed and mashed ripe plantain is used unlike in Pazham Nirachathu which uses the whole plantain as such. So it's easier to prepare Pazham Nirachathu than the other.

Here is the recipe..

Things you need:

2 medium sized ripe plantains
1 Egg
25 g Cashew Nuts, broken to small pieces
25 g Raisins
3 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp grated coconut
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tbsp pure Ghee / Clarified Butter
2 tbsp All purpose Flower
1/2 cup of Veg. Oil

Method

1)   Beat the Egg with Sugar and keep aside.
2)   Heat Ghee in a pan and add the Cashews and Raisins and saute until cashews turn brown and raisins are puffed up. Add the grated coconut to this and saute for a couple of minutes. Then add the egg and sugar along with cardamom powder and saute with until the egg is cooked and granulated. Remove from heat and keep aside.
3)   Peel the plantains and make 3 slits on each of them length wise with a knife in such a way that the slits join each other at the center along seed part and stops just before the two ends of plantains.
4)   Now fill these slits with the filling previously prepared taking care not to over stuff them.
5)   Mix the flower with adequate water to form a thick batter. Using this batter seal the slits of the plantains until the filling is not visible.
6)   Heat oil in a wok and carefully fry the filled plantains in it until all sides are equally brown and done.
7)   Take out from the oil and drain on a kitchen tissue. Serve hot by slicing the plantains into small circles. Each circle will have three slits of filling on them.

Sending this to Charitha's A-Appetisers event.