Banana chips, with origins in Kerala, India are dried, generally crispy slices of bananas. They can be covered with sugar or honey and have a sweet taste, or are more commonly fried in oil and spices and have a salty or spicy taste. Banana chips are similar to chifle, usually made from firmer, starchier fruit varieties of the genusMusa commercially called plantains or "cooking bananas".
Some varieties of banana chips can be produced using only food dehydration. Banana slices that are only dehydrated are not dark yellow and crunchy, but rather are brown, leathery and chewy. They are very sweet and have an intense banana flavor. These are ideally made from bananas that are fully ripe. Another kind is made by baking in an oven, although this process may not result in the same intense banana flavor.
Nutrition
Fried banana chips are 4% water, 58% carbohydrates, 34% fat, and 2% protein. In a 100 gram reference amount, fried banana chips supply 520 calories and are a rich source of magnesium and vitamin B6, with moderate amounts of iron, copper, and potassium . Other micronutrients are in negligible amounts.
Uses and variations
India
chips, known as nenthra-kaaya oopperi or upperi in Kerala, are fried in coconut oil. Both ripe and unripe plantains are used for this type of chip preparation. The chips may be coated with masala or jaggery to form spicy and sweet variations. Plain banana and plantain chips are called pachkkaya varuthathu and kaya upperi, respectively; sweet jaggery-banana chips are called sharkara upperi. It is an integral part of the traditional Kerala meal called sadya served during weddings and festivals, such as Onam.
Banana is a native plant of Maritime Southeast Asia and the people of the archipelago has developed many uses of it for ages, including as a snack. In Indonesia, banana chip is called kripik pisang, and is considered as a variant of crispy kripik. Kripik pisang is a popular crispy snack and can be commonly found in Indonesia, although it seems to be more prevalent in Java and Sumatra. Usually unripe green bananas are thinly sliced, soaked in lime and salt water solution, and being deep fried as chips. Unripe banana is well suited for deep frying due to its low content of water and sugar, while having high starch content. Pisang goreng is another fried banana snack, although it is not thinly sliced and serves as a sweet hot snack.
America
The chips are often part of muesli and nutmixes. Other chips, such as patacones, are salty. Similar chips called chifle are made from plantains, the family of fruit that bananas come from. In tropical American cultures, all bananas are considered plantains, but not all plantains are bananas. These deep-fried plantain chips are also quite popular in the southeastern part of Mexico, especially in the state of Tabasco.
