How to make Banana fritters | Inippu bonda recipe

Last updated on March 4th, 2021 at 10:54 am

Banana Fritters – caramelized bananas in the form of pillowy and slightly chewy fritters. Also known as pazha bonda is a quick and perfect South Indian snack.

When I was pregnant with Lil A, my ob-gyn had told me to refrain from sweets. Being the sweet tooth that I am, I thought it was impossible and it was. I had bouts of sweet cravings and whenever I craved sweets I reached for a banana. Not just any banana, I preferred them ripe. There were days I had gulped down 4-5 bananas; fruits are a better form of sweets right?

Luckily, after a few months into the pregnancy, I had developed an aversion to sweets! I was so happy about it because if it hadn’t happened, I would have slipped and would have given in to my sweet tooth. My best friend is pregnant and she suffers from cravings, I was just telling her the same story. Although she laughed at first she has resorted towards Bananas these days.

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I was making these Banana fritters using some ripe bananas and nostalgia took me back to the time when I was practically a monkey, hogging down a bunch of bananas. Nevertheless, you’re gonna love these fritters if you love bananas.

Banana Fritters :

Fritter is a broad term, it can be savory or sweet; whole or broke down like these Banana fritters. And fritters can be made with any vegetables and some fruit. Even complex veggies that we won’t normally be willing to eat can be turned into super delicious fritters, like the Banana Blossom Fritters for example.

For reasons like these we can never find out where Banana fritters originate from or who invented them; because there are bananas everywhere!

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My mom used to make these frequently when I was a kid; she learned this recipe from her mother i.e. my grandmother. I fell in love with these fritters from the day I tasted these. I remember asking (nagging) for some snack and she literally made these within 10 minutes. In my opinion, these are better than Jamaican style / Filipino style banana fritters.

My grandmother used to call these Pazha Bonda (Pazham – Banana, Bonda – Fritters); although there are many regional names for these like Pazha Kachayam or Sweet Bonda. These Pazha bondas are made with a variety of banana called Poovan bananas; which are bananas with fewer seeds. So you can go for any sweet variety which doesn’t have too many seeds.

More on the ingredients:

The batter makes use of a little bit of all-purpose flour; because we use it, it is best not to let the dough rest too much. And it is also important that we don’t mix it too much. Over mixing and resting will give a hard and very chewy fritter.

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Although there’s only a little bit of flour, this is enough to make the Banana Fritters glutinous; we do not want that. Also, letting the batter rest will let the semolina soften by soaking up the moisture from the banana fritter batter.

These fritters are so good especially if you got kids in your house, they’ll surely love these. I gave this as a snack to my daughter A when she was a year and a half old, right when most of her teeth had come out. Let’s see how to make it!

How to make these fritters?

The ingredients are basic pantry ingredients, even if not these are easy to find. However, if you don’t have ripe bananas, you can plan ahead and buy bananas a week before you plan to make these.

BUT, if you really want to make it today, I’ve listed out few options to encourage the process of ripening in this Banana Bread recipe. Unlike Banana Bread, this recipe doesn’t need completely ripened bananas with black skin on.

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So we need about 4 medium-sized bananas, 1 tablespoon semolina, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon dark sugar and 2 pinches of bicarbonate of soda.

Wash and peel the bananas, wash once again if required. Put the bananas in a mixing bowl and mash the bananas using a potato masher. You can also blend them in a food processor but the uneven bits of bananas add a great texture to the fritters.

Tip the flour, semolina, and sugar into the mixing bowl and mix them all together. Finally add the bicarbonate of soda and give it a thorough mix.

Heat enough oil in a frying pan; enough oil for the fritters to float around. You can also use an electric fryer or an air fryer to cook these Banana fritters.

Oil a small ice cream scoop and scoop out a portion of wet batter into the hot oil. Alternatively, you can take the slippery batter in your hands and drop uneven portions into the hot oil (all the while being extra careful), that is how I do it most of the time.

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It will at first stick to the bottom and then rise to the top to float around. If it doesn’t use a ladle and gently nudge it to come off the bottom.

Wait for a few seconds before scooping out another portion into the oil. Too many at a time will enable them to stick together. Essentially give a 30-second gap before adding another portion into the oil.

Careful not to crowd the frying pan; the fritters cook better when the oil is in contact from all sides. Repeat and fry in batches until all the dough is made into delicious Pazha Bondas.

You can choose to serve them fresh from the stove or later. These fritters / sweet bondas can be served warm or cold and they will taste delicious. For extra sweetness, roll the fritters in caster sugar!

Recipe Source: This is my grandmother’s recipe.

Notes:

• You can also use an electric fryer or an air fryer to make these fritters.
• Instead of ice cream scoops, you can also use your hands and drop small portions of dough into the oil.
• Give a few seconds gap before dropping another portion of the dough. This Banana fritters have a tendency to stick together when dropped at once.
• These fritters taste good cold or hot. 
• Rolling the cooked fritters in caster sugar amplifies the sweetness and looks like doughnuts. You can use cinnamon sugar as well.
• STORAGE: These fritters can be stored in a covered box and it will stay good for a day.
• Can you freeze Banana Fritters? – This a snack that is at its best when made and consumed within a day; freezing/reheating doesn’t work well here.
• WHAT TO SERVE WITH THESE? – Serve it as is or roll it in caster sugar/ cinnamon sugar or serve it alongside chocolate sauce!
• CAN THESE FRITTERS BE SHALLOW FRIED – Yes, but make sure you space them out and cook in batches. Also, ensure that you use a BPA Free non-stick pan while you’re at it.
• These are completely vegan/vegetarian.

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