Going Bananas in Thrissur
Kerala cuisine majorly revels on Bananas/Plantains, coconuts, Fish from different water sources, and Rice and rice subproducts. Obviosly the availability of these in abundance made it, ever present in all the meals. Coconut came to be used in crushed, pasted, oiled forms. So also the rice in all forms, puffed, powdered, fried, steamed and much more.
The star whom I want to concentrate on in this blog, is Bananas. Different varieties of bananas grow in Kerala. Nendhran, Kadali, Palayankodan, Poovan, Red variety, and many more. We use them raw sometimes to make the famous chips, thin and crusty, or to make dry curries which are mixed with payar(legume), Kayayum-Payar-Mezhukkuparatti. We use them semi raw to make those sweet saly chips too. There are many different snacks which are made out of Bananas for tea time. Tea snacks are called Chai Kadi in slang, which translates to Chai — Tea, Kadi — Bite.
Bananas stuffed rice wraps, Banana fries, Banana with coconut filled. So the different names are
UnniAppam ( Appam translates as snack — Unni is small, rice dumpling with coconut and Bananas. small little heavens )
Ela Ada — Ada — parcel, Ela — leaves (Leave parcels filled with coconut usually, but sometimes bananas bits are added making it all the more delicious)
Pazham Nurukku: (Pazham by now u figured is Banana and Nurukku is bits ) — Ripe bananas mashed with grated coconut, cardamom, and jaggery.
Banana Halwa — A sweet confection made from mashed ripe bananas, ghee, and sugar
Pazham Nirachathu: (Nirachathu is filled) — Ripe bananas is stuffed with a mixture of grated coconut, jaggery, and cardamom, then fried, shallow. A whole big Banana is taken split, and filled with the above goodies. A wholesome meal on its own.
Pazham Pori (Ethakka Appam as called in the south of Kerala), Banana fritter: Ripe Nendran banana slices coated in a sweet batter and deep-fried. A very popular evening snack and my personal favourite.
As per me, there are omnipresent in Chaya Kadas together with Parippu Vada( Lentil fritters) and Uzhinnu Vada(Urad daal fritters). The holy trio of Chaya Kadis as we can call them to be. Banana fritters are semi-sweet, Parippu Vada is crunchy and Uzhinnu Vada is soft inside but crisp outside, not to the level of crunchy of the former. So that day when the tea is ordered from a chaya kada, you need to assess what is your mood for snacks… is it sweet or salt? If sweet then the choice is the best and only, Pazham pori. But if salty, then you are still confused and you might need to do some deep dive into consciousness and decide if it crunch that you are looking for at that moment or if is it a soft but firm snack. After deliberate contemplation, this can be decided. Still cautioning you, this is already a failed or delayed decision, as the banana fritter guy has already chomped down his first two bites with slurping sips of hot steaming tea and is already in Kadi-lala-land.
The Banana fritters, they make sure they take not fully ripe bananas, so it maintain the shape of fritters and it doesn't get that sweet that tea sweetness is overwhelmed by it. With a bite of fritter and a sip of tea, so there need be a synchronicity that needs to be achieved for the experience to be enjoyable. If the fritter is very sweet as the bananas are over-ripened or batter is sweet then as well, delegate this fritter to be a desert, not fit to be a chaya kadi. So there is a correct balance that needs to be achieved between the batter consistent, sweetness added in batter, banana quality( it cannot be bland, there needs to be good quality with sweetness to it, but not very sweet. So that correct cresando needed.), the way it is sliced, it cannot be thick, if so its not QC approved and the oil in which it is fried and also how long they are fried. Most of us enjoy it being fried in coconut oil, that coconut flavour makes it the real pazham pori, otherwise, it can be relegated to fritters from Indonesia or other areas, which can be made with any simple banana. Not from that majestic Nenthran, which is the star ingredient in this heavenly snack. With the advent of false propaganda of coconut oil being bad for health, there was a move to replace frying of all snacks with other new entrants from the multinationals, lemme tell you the snacks were doomed then, most of the chaya kadas understood the folly and reverted to traditional ways of frying and the original taste is restored. We support local products — Matta rice(basmati we relegate only for occasional eats), Bananas, Coconuts and our sea catches.
Some of the shops, add some turmeric to the batter which makes it better looking. Some of them don't smear the batter fully all over the slice, which also is not QC-approved. Some of them serve them hours after frying, which is a total bummer of an experience. The best is when it is just out of the frying and steaming. Can be accommodated to be had for another hour as well, as the crunchiness is maintained in most of cases, depending upon the batter and oil qualities, and how is it stored. It cannot be put in a very closed vessel, the vapor which it emanates can settle in and make it soggy. Negative QC-approved.
The most enticing part of these is, that they are stored in these Chaya Kadas in glass boxes. They lie there and entice you to pick them up. You usually might even pick more than one mostly and always go with a Samovar chai which is piping hot. Some of these make them in front of you, which makes the experience all the more pleasurable because you can anticipate its crunchiness when they turn them around in the wok. In this process, you can always spot the one that you think would be best done and yours. This needs to be grabbed when strained out of oil. What a fulfilling experience!
On a recent trip to my hometown, I took it upon myself to try out as many pazhamporis. Started with what our Mom makes, which has all the qualities of home food. No frills, but heavenly. They are sliced small as well to accommodate in smaller wok we have at home. So the feel isn't there of the real thing. But this is something we need to eat on every visit, mandatorily. This is a snack that I also make, as it is nostalgic and can be easily made as well with minimal ingredients Oil to fry, all purpose flour/Wheat, Eggs(optional, for extra fluff for the batter), and Nethran bananas. For spunk can add, some semolina and rice powder. This is done at home, never in shops. Some of us either add saunf seeds or black sesame seeds as garnish. This addition of black sesame does give a visual appeal. Sauff gives a twang to it, which is specific taste for some regions in Kerala.
I started my sampling for the greater goodness, a self-pursuit from near home, after being satisfied with Mom’s version.
Near home, there is a canteen that provides food to nearby hospitals. Here some enterprising women have started a small tuck shop to make snacks and lunch. They have good ones, washed them down with a strong tea which the lady there knows how to make to my taste. Reference 1, listed below for details.
Satisfaction Quotient (SQ) — 6/10
Crunch Quotient(CQ) — 5/10 — it was surely made an hour or more before. Told the friendly vendor to call me when the next batch is made and I can eat off the wok.
Accompaniment Quality (AC) — Tea, is good, as it made then and there. No stored teas are entertained.
Another opportunity came, just after a good gym session, there was one shop just below it, strategically placed. So why not, tried it? It was not at all a good experience. Reference 2
SQ : 3 /10 — no character to it at all, it was just some banana fried and served.
CQ: 2/10, No crunch at all. Many hours might have passed before it was made. Although I ate it around 9:30 AM, so was it a days-old one. Errrr
AC: 5/10, Average tea, so accommodated by having the onion samosa instead and discarded the fritter after the first bite. The vendor was miffed a bit by that. Little did he know I was on a mission.
Went out for lunch with the family to another happening place, Thomson Casa, and just when we were to board the car back, a sight just took me to a tuck shop at the back of this establishment. I thank the Heavens to have taken me there, the best I have had on this trip came from here. One of the well-made pazhamporis I have had in some time. Reference 3.
SQ : 9/10 — right ripeness of the banana, batter not that sweet, well cooked and the slice thickness is just right to dig in and savour.
CQ: 8/10 — the right crunch, I dug into it even after a good lunch. So you can understand it was spectacular. Didnt leave a crumb, and didn't share too.
AC: 8/10, one of the good teas had.
Now on another occasion, this is one of the mid-meal snacking opportunities, Arunima hotel. Refefence 4.
SQ: 6/10, not bad quality, made long before so was soggy.
CQ: 3/10, not crunchy at all
AC : 9/10, another good tea. Couldnt get another accompaniment, as they only had fritters only as snack.
I am told, there is a famous bakery in the town, which serves good quality ones, yet to be tried and rated. Reference 5 : Mango bakery.
Reference 1: Raji Nursing Home Canteen
Reference 2: WestEnd Supermarket, Poonkunnam — tuck shop. The Gym is VR fitness.
Reference 3: Thomson Casa, East Fort, Thrissur— Chaya kada, a tuck shop at the back which serves a variety of evening snacks.
Reference 4: Arunima hotel, Erinjery Angady, Pallikkulam
Reference 5: Mango Bakery, multiple branches across Thrissur.
Now not to forget the mention of the modern-day twist to Pazhampori, a combination of it with the Beef curry, the melange of spicy and meaty curry with the “silk” Pazhampori.
Please do ping me with your version addition to this versatile snack.
