- Banana chips
Banana chips are deep-fried and/or dried slices of
banana , covered withsugar orhoney . The chips are crispy and have a sweet taste. Variants of banana chips may be covered withchocolate salt instead.Fried
Usually, the chips are produced from underripe bananas, of which slices are deep-fried in oil, which are then dried, and to which preservatives are added. These varieties of chips can be very oily, due to the deep-frying process.
Another form of fried banana chips, usually made in
Kerala (India) and known locally as 'upperi', is fried incoconut oil . Both ripe and unripe bananas are used for this variant. Sometimes they are coated withmasala orjaggery to form both spicy and sweet variants. It is an integral part of the traditional Kerala meal calledsadya had during weddings and traditional festivals such asOnam .To avoid confusion, it may help to understand the difference between
banana andplantain . In Kerala, contrary to commonly accepted definitions, plantains are the small sweet fruits and bananas are the large fruits. So in Kerala, unripe bananas (the large fruits) are used to make salted and sweet chips. Partially-ripe plantains (the smaller sweeter fruits) are also fried into chips.Dried
Some healthier varieties of banana chips can be produced using only
food dehydration . Banana slices that are only dehydrated are light brown and leathery. They are very sweet and have an intense banana flavor. They are ideally made from bananas that are fully ripe. Some are made from putting them in the oven and baking them, although there is question to whether there is the same intense banana flavor.Uses and variations
The chips are often part of
muesli and nut mixes.Other chips, like for example the patacones (singular: "
patacón "), aresalt y.Similar chips can also be made from
plantain s, which are starchier varieties of bananas.Nutritional information:http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/19400.html
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