Perfect as evening snacks…
Rice flakes or flattened rice (“Poha” in Hindi and “Aval” in Malayalam) are often used to make snacks, sometimes a quick meal can be whipped up on lazy days, they are also found in some rice cereals. In Kerala, wet rice flakes (Aval Nanachathu) combined with grated coconut, jaggery/sugar is quite famous and is made often as an evening snack in many houses. My mom used to make rice flakes balls mixed with banana, honestly I wasn’t a huge fan of this. That could be the reason why I never cared to buy rice flakes all these years.
A few weeks ago, I happened to see rice flakes in a grocery store and that kind of stirred up some childhood memories. I couldn’t resist buying it and made sure that I would make something more appealing and appetizing with it. And I did make a snack that impressed my taste buds a lot. After wetting the rice flakes, I combined it with plantaina and dates and ghee fried till it turned brown. The aroma of the ghee, the sweetness from the dates and the mushiness of plantain made these rice flakes balls a perfect healthy snack which can be enjoyed by both kids and adults.
Ghee Fried Rice Flakes Balls
Ingredients:
- Rice flakes, white or brown- 1 1/2 cups
- Water- 1/4 cup (to wet rice flakes)
- Plantain or banana, ripe- 1
- Dates, pitted- 12
- Sugar- 1 tbsp
- Saffron- 2 pinches (optional)
- Ghee- 3-4 tbsp
Instruction
Rice flakes:
- Wet the rice flakes with 1/4 cup water till it turns soft, don’t make it too mushy. Drain the water through a sieve and gently press the rice flakes so that the water drains well.
- In a bowl, combine rice flakes with plantain or banana, dates, sugar and saffron.
- Using your hands, mix well till everything is well incorporated.
- Make medium sized balls out of it and keep aside.
- Place a frying pan over medium heat, when it turns hot add ghee.
- Place the rice flakes balls over the ghee and fry it till it turns golden brown.
- If needed add more ghee.
- Remove from the pan and place the balls on a plate.
- If there is any ghee left on the pan, pour it over the fried balls
- Serve warm.
Tips:
- You could use ripe banana instead of plantain, with ripe plantain rice flakes balls taste even more delicious.
- If you are using thin rice flakes, it only takes a minute or so to turn soft when wetted with water; if the rice flakes are thick it might take more time to turn soft.
- Rice flakes, white or brown- 1½ cups
- Water- ¼ cup (to wet rice flakes)
- Plantain or banana, ripe- 1
- Dates, pitted- 12
- Sugar- 1 tbsp
- Saffron- 2 pinches (optional)
- Ghee- 3-4 tbsp
- Wet the rice flakes with ¼ cup water till it turns soft, don't make it too mushy. Drain the water through a sieve and gently press the rice flakes so that the water drains well.
- In a bowl, combine rice flakes with plantain or banana, dates, sugar and saffron.
- Using your hands, mix well till everything is well incorporated.
- Make medium sized balls out of it and keep aside.
- Place a frying pan over medium heat, when it turns hot add ghee.
- Place the rice flakes balls over the ghee and fry it till it turns golden brown.
- If needed add more ghee.
- Remove from the pan and place the balls on a plate.
- If there is any ghee left on the pan, pour it over the fried balls
- Serve warm.
•If you are using thin rice flakes, it only takes a minute or so to turn soft when wetted with water; if the rice flakes are thick it might take more time to turn soft.
