It’s crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and tastes absolutely delicious…

If you ask me what my favorite evening snack is, without any doubt I would have to say “Unnakaya”. This evening snack is very common and popular in my family. This is also a famous appetizer in Malabar cuisine, which is made with plantain. It is very easy to prepare and tastes absolutely yummy. Plantain is available all year round in my home town, kerala. Hence, this is made often in my house.

The stuffing used for making this itself tastes so good. When fried, the stuffed plantain becomes so crunchy on the outside and very soft on the inside.  Here in the US, whenever I find the right plantain for making this, I grab them immediately :)

Unnakaya or Stuffed Plantain Fry

Ingredients:

  • Plantain- 2 nos ( try to get the right plantain for this recipe, not too ripe and not too raw)

For making the stuffing:

  • Grated coconut- 1 cup
  • Cashew nuts or Almonds, chopped- 1/4 cup
  • Raisins- 1 handful
  • Egg, beaten-1
  • Sugar-2tbsp
  • Cardamom powder-1tsp
  • Ghee or butter-2tbsp

Preparation of Plantain dough:

  • For making this, the plantain should not be too ripe or too raw, it should be some what in the middle.
  • Steam cook the plantain.
  • When it’s cooked well, let it cool down,
  • Remove the skin, cut the plantain into two halves and remove the black seeds from it.
  • Mash the plantain using potato masher or with wooden spoon, there shouldn’t be any lumps.
  • Make into a soft dough and make small balls out of the dough( just like making chapattis).
  • If the dough is too watery, add enough rice flour to make it thick, the end result should be a soft dough.
  • Grease the palm of your hands with ghee and make the balls into disc shapes, keep it aside to fill the stuffing.

How to make the stuffing.

  • Heat a non-stick cooking pan, add 1 tbsp ghee, add the grated coconut and the sugar and roast it until it turns golden.
  • Add cardamom powder to the coconut.
  • In the meantime fry cashew nuts and raisins in 1 tbsp ghee.
  • Add eggs to the roasted coconut and scramble the eggs.
  • Now, add the fried cashew nuts and raisins and mix everything well.
  • Stuffing is ready, allow it to cool down.
  • Place 1-2 tsp of stuffing on the disc shaped plantain dough, the dough is very soft so its very easy to paste them and make into an oval or round shape. 
  • Or use little water to paste the ends.
  • Fry the stuffed plantain in oil (add sufficient oil for deep frying) until it turns golden brown.
  • Serve it on a platter and enjoy this crunchy soft appetizer.

Tips:

  • For hardcore veggies: You could make the stuffing without the eggs, it tastes yummy.