Baked Kaela Phodiyo (Baked Banana Fritters)

Don't you all love munching on fried goodies? I do. And fritters of some sort used to be on our Sunday lunch menu. Almost always. Raw banana fritters or Kaela Phodiyo topped the list, in terms of frequency and in terms of favourites. I remember this one time when my parents were in Holland and one of the trees in our banana patch yielded the raw banana variety! Since H and I were left to our own devices, we had raw banana fritters almost every other day. OK, so once in a while, we also had vazhaikkai karumadhu. At that age, I don't think we worried so much about the consumption of oil. I was all of 14, and he, 19.

I've been trying to bake several things that are conventionally fried. I've blogged about the Baked Cashew Onion Pakodas earlier. Since these fritters don't involve dripping batter, I've found that baking instead of frying works.

2 Raw Bananas, cut in half and sliced lengthwise

2 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1 tbsp Rice Flour

2 tbsp Oil

Salt to taste

Place the banana slices on a plate and apply the salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and asafoetida. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Apply the rice flour to the banana slices so that the released liquid is absorbed. Coat the slices with oil and place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Cool these fritters on a rack before you attack them.

I enjoyed this round of guilt free eating while S said the fried ones taste better. Of course they do, there's no denying that. But the deep fried version does not make for guilt free eating. So, eat away.

And here's a gentle reminder to all of you. Please send in your entries to this month's AFAM and make my first blog event hosting experience a huge success.