Nendrabale Kele Kachri (Kerala Banana Chips/ Wafers).

"Nendrabale Kele Kachri (Kerala Banana Chips/ Wafers)" ... Nendrabale kachri as famously referred to by GSB Konkani Saraswat are crunchy thin wafers prepared with raw banana's ... definitely an addictive snack prepared during festive occasions; the very presence of which brings a smile and joy on faces ... prepare them and enjoy the tasty crunch in every bite ... Yummilicious ....

** Nendrabale Kele/ Banana are not available in every area of the Thane city I live in, though they are available in plenty in main market. Again, one needs to check out on the vendor if they are available before you go to purchase them. Well, sometimes one does get lucky and this time I could somehow manage to catch hold of a few raw ones (7), sadly by evening 2 of them could not resist being ripened. That's it, I just went ahead to prepare the kachri/ wafers before all of them decided to ripen out the next day. All I could manage to get was just a large bowl of chips ... Karum Kurum; Sigh! almost emptied.

** Nendrabale Kele Kachri (Kerala Banana/ Chips/ Wafers) is a world famous snack, almost all Indians are aware of it. Decades back these bananas were available only in the southern parts of India and elsewhere they are known as Kerala cooking bananas while we GSB Konkani Saraswats call it Nendrabale Kele. Development in country has spread it wide across the country and the world and now are available in most of the prominent cities. This is the most sought after raw banana for preparing of chips/ wafers and nothing beats the taste of these freshly deep fried chips hot from the kadai. 

** I have grown up watching Amma prepare them quantities and that which we siblings along with our cousins finished off within few days during holidays. As these chips are famous and known to almost everybody, there is nothing more information that I can share here, so, I am sharing the recipe right away. Just see to it that the bananas are raw when you purchase, their skin should be dark green shade and beware they begin to ripen fast, so prepare them immediately. The one’s I bought slightly ripened by evening, so that is one thing you have to keep in your mind when you want to prepare these chips.

** Here is the method of preparing "Nendrabale Kele Kachri (Kerala Banana Chips/ Wafers)" … which I learned from my Amma ...

** In a small bowl add about 1 cup of water with 2 tsp of salt (namak/ meeta) and mix well. Keep this ready aside, this is to be added in oil when the chips are half fried. This procedure adds in salt to the wafers and also gives the wafers/chips that added crispiness. Some people add in a little bit of turmeric/haldi powder too, but I do not add them as Amma never did, in fact I don’t think any GSB Amchi does. 

** Note : The traditional method of preparing chips followed down ages by GSB Konkani Saraswat's to not adapt this method of adding haldi/ turmeric while preparing the wafers. The banana wafers turn into a beautiful yellow color naturally when deep fried and we believe there is no point in doing so, you may if desired. 

** Preparing the Nendrabale Kele/ Bananas for making Kachri/ Chips/ Wafers : With a sharp knife make a sharp cut only on the outer skin portion of the banana lengthwise all round the banana. The cut should be just deep enough on the skin portion and should not cut the banana within. So keep a keen watch for it and be careful. You can make about six cuts lengthwise all round the bananas. This is done to remove outer skin of the bananas properly as otherwise it become difficult as it is raw.

** Meanwhile place a thick bottomed kadai/ pan with plenty of refined oil for deep frying on heat as you go ahead with the procedure of removing skin of the bananas. Now with the help of sharp knife try removing the outside skin where you have made the cut by holding the knife at 90 deg angle and lifting the skin. 

** Note : You can watch the above procedure while wafers are made by any relative/ friend/ neighbor as in my opinion keen live observation is the best way to learn the kitchen tricks and nothing beats it. I always loitered round the kitchen when Amma was busy preparing dishes and though I was prohibited from doing anything during younger days, I always watched and somewhere I guess it got registered in my mind.

** Once you peel off the skin of bananas you need to put them in water immediately if you are preparing the chips in bulk so that they do not blacken. I have not done so as I prepared wafers out of only about 5 large sized bananas. I peeled off the skin of 2 bananas first and as frying was going on, I simultaneously removed the others, you can follow this method too as per your convenience if the quantity is less. 

** Important Note to Remember : In case you are preparing the wafers in bulk then do remember to soak them in normal water immediately on peeling the skin. It is also important to remove them and place on a thick cotton cloth towel just before starting to prepare the wafers. The bananas need to be dried well before slicing. 

** Check the temperature of oil, if it has to come to a smoking point, then lower the heat and wait for 3-4 minutes. To check out the right temperature add a thin slice of banana into the hot oil, if it turns out deep brown immediately you will need to let it cool a bit, if it sinks and sizzles and floats as it fries the temperature is perfect. Now hold the slicing machine on your left hand about 10-12 inches above the hot oil horizontally at 40 deg angle and with your right hand slice each banana rapidly allowing to fall directly into the hot oil. Be careful and maintain a distance between yourself and the flame.

** Tricky ?? definitely yes, but once you learn the skill, it is breeze work, all you need to do is be careful. Having said that, I always suggest cooking is best learnt by watching someone do it before you start of on your own. Slice only that many bananas into the hot oil that the kadai can easily hold. Do not overcrowd the kadai, there should be enough space for the wafers to get cooked or else the wafers will not turn out crisp and may turn soggy. You can check out the picture shared above for reference. Remember to keep the heat at a steady temperature throughout the deep frying procedure. 

**Tips and Tricks: If you are a newbie you must be VERY CAREFUL while preparing the chips directly on the kadai as a little bit of mistake can be disaster. If not confident then you may follow the other method of slicing the bananas on a tray and then gently transferring it to the oil, however, I must mention banana wafers/ chips are always sliced directly into the oil, as they tend to otherwise stick to each other and dropping them into oil with hands becomes that much more difficult, so just learn the trick. Remember when done directly into hot oil, as the thin wafers fall into the oil, they get coated immediately with hot oil, and this is what keep them separate thought the frying process.

** Again, remember the heat level of the oil should be constant and there should be no variation in it or else the chips will not get evenly fried, they will either be overdone or less done and remain soft. Also, the important point is your hands should be steady. As you hold the slicer on the left hand if your hands are unsteady there is the risk of it slipping off your hand, so is the case with banana, they should not slip off and fall into the hot oil which may result into a mess and the hot oil getting not only split over, but on hands. So, be careful, watch someone do it and then follow the same.

** Now coming back to the frying part, once the sizzling sound of cooking the chips lessens add in 2-3 tblsp of the prepared salt water gently into the oil, taking care to stay a little bit far lest the bubbles splutters on to your hand. The sizzling of the salt water stops in a few minutes and that is the indication that the wafers are done. Now with the help of a slotted/ ringed spatula remove the wafers from the oil holding it for a few second above the oil, for excess oil to get drained into the kadai. Put them in a tray with has been lined with an absorbent paper. Proceed with remaining bananas in similar method until all are done and when cooled store them in air tight containers to be savored later. 

** "Nendrabale Kele Kachri (Kerala Banana Chips/ Wafers)" are done and ready to be served. You can serve these as a Naivedyam too during festive occasions or as a snack during tiffin time with some hot tea/ coffee/ soup and relish the same. Once it is cooled, put in airtight container and store in dry place. They remain good for almost 3-4 weeks provided they remain that long. I do not prepare in bulk as we prefer having them fresh, so they are over maximum within a week in my home. But if you have children who are always demanding for more, do make an attempt to try these out and store them, especially during holidays and enjoy them also with your family and friends.

** There are many more varieties of wafers/ chips/ kachri and snacks that can be prepared with different types of veggies and I will be including them soon enough. Till then do try these out and enjoy the winter season relishing them with some hot soup. You can use the search option or go via the label section for wafer/ chips and try out some of the other chips posted before in the blog. Do try out various dishes from the blog and if you like them please do leave in a comment and if you have any doubts too you can do the same, I will try to get back to your as soon as possible.