Shital's-Kitchen: Banana Chakri

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Banana Chakri

Summers in California are not harsh, but few days of strong heat are enough to make some some dehydrated veggies and snacks to store for the entire year. While most of the snacks we make are with potatoes and sabudana or sago pearls, I was thinking of my Jain friends and felt a need to make something for them. Check out my other recipes of dehydrated snacks.

People who follow Jainism as religion refrain from underground veggies and certain leafy vegetables most of the year and specially during monsoon months. They follow a strict pattern of diet in the life. Most of them are based on scientific reasoning, and they are worth adapting in our lives.

Raw banana is a substitute to recipes that use potatoes. Raw bananas are not sweet and have texture of boiled potatoes, so boiling and mashing them to make various recipes is very simple and easy for Jain friends. Lately, I tasted Jain pav bhaji which had raw bananas boiled and mashed instead of potatoes. It tasted yum and we could not even notice any difference.

This recipe was a successful experiment to making dehydrated snack for my Jain friends, and with one of their upcoming festival, I hope my friends like it.

Ingredients:
3 large raw bananas
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp salt

Pressure cook raw bananas till you hear 4-5 whistles or around 30 minutes.
Peel and grate them well to avoid pieces.
Add salt and red chili powder and mix well
If the mixture feel dry, add a tbsp or so of water and make a dough.
Use a chakri press, Fill it with mashed banana dough and press to form round chakris.
Dry it in hot solar heat.
Next day flip and dry on the other side too.
Store in an air tight container when it is completely dehydrated.

To serve:
Deep fry in medium hot oil and enjoy crisp snack.

Pressure cook raw bananas till you hear 4-5 whistles or around 30 minutes.

Peel and grate them well to avoid pieces.