Pazham Pori
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Pazham Pori / Ethakka Appam / Banana Fritters

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So… I'm back in Bahrain, after almost a month long trip to India. Well, it wasnt completely a pleasure trip. I was down with cold n flu for a few days followed by wisdom tooth extraction followed by a mini watermelon cheek phase for a few more days… But no complaints, all in all it was a good trip. The highlight of the trip was one week stay at my brother's place in Mumbai. It was an absolute fun week. Usually when I'm in Mumbai, I run from one shop to another, but this time I wanted to spend maximum time with my darling nephews and made the most of it. Also not to forget the late night chatting sessions with my sister in law ;)

Coming to this recipe, it's my all time favorite “nalumani palaharam” (tea time snack) and I can see many of you saying, mine too :) I think, pazham pori is a weakness for most of the Malayalees. Just the thought of sitting on the verandah on a rainy evening with hot and crispy ethakkappam on one hand and with piping hot tea on another, makes me homesick! Btw, what do you call it… ethakkappam or pazham pori? I like ethakkappam, because pazham pori sounds commercial to me, whereas ethakkappam is very homely! This post is special to me for one more reason, in my 5 + years of blogging, this is the first time I'm posting something which is made by my amma :)

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I collected a number of recipes this time but I decided to post this first. For the simple reason that I had ethakkappam almost every other day during this trip! In the end I started wondering whether I should take noyambu (lent) for ethakkappam, though I still refuse to call it as an overdose of ethakkappam. Come on… is there such a thing as an overdose of pazham pori, I think I enjoy the feeling of being stuffed up rather than feeling sorry afterwards for not having it ;)

I forgot to ask you… when you think of pazham pori/ethakkapam what's the image that comes to your mind? Is it the long yellow coloured pazham pori? Somehow my pazham pori image is always small sized golden brown coloured ones. So I asked amma to make it specifically like that. Anyways, without testing your patience further…

Click Here For Recipe…

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76 thoughts on “Pazham Pori / Ethakka Appam / Banana Fritters”

  2. Came across your recipe today and it brought back many childhood memories. Instantly decided to indulge in some hot pazham poris and also introduce my toddlers to this traditional dish. I am so glad to know that this can be made without maida! It turned out crispy and yum. Everyone enjoyed it! Thank you ?

    Reply

    • You are welcome Seema :) Yeah it’s a snack that always brings back good memories! Hope your toddlers also enjoyed this. Thank you so much for leaving a comment here.

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  3. hi maria… we call it pazhampori. recently one of my friends mentioned ethakka appam n i thought may be smthing like our unni appam. we make it with kadalapodi at home.

    Reply

    • Hi Renu,

      Yeah, Ethakka appam is commonly known as Pazham Pori. But we call it as Ethakka Appam at home, I guess it’s known like that in Kottayam side. I havent tried it eyt with kadalapodi…

      Reply

  4. Hi Maria,
    I heard about ur blog frm my sister,she sweared tht she cant go wrong with ur recipes…after trying out ur beef,egg,vanilla cake recipes….m following my sister’s path!!!!…:)…i nw enjoy cooking rather than looking upon it as a chore.Thanks to ur recipes m able to surprise my hubby .

    Best wishes,
    Jaccy

    Reply

    • Hi Jaccyna,

      Thank you very much for your lovely feedback :) It’s a pleasure to know that MM helps you to enjoy cooking! Please do say my big thanks to your sister too for recommending to you.

      Happy cooking!

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  5. Tasty tasty…but I think adding 2 spoons of Rava to the batter objects the entry of oil into the food and keeps it crispy.

    Reply

  6. Hi! I’m new to this blog!The recipe was great! but i did make some adjustments i added a pinch of turmeric powder and baking powder i didn’t fry my fritters i pan fried them instead and they turned out nice and crispy on the sides!

    – Thanks

    Reply

  9. Maria,
    This is my daughter’s fav snack. I add 1-2 drops of vanilla essence whch gives a diff nice taste.Keep up the good work.
    Saira

    Reply

  10. Maria,
    i am going to try this for a dinner party, as a sweet. i need to serve it for an expecting woman. so thought, wont go for any experiments ;) will just simply follow ur recipe….. anugrahikkoo….. :)
    lv
    Deepthi

    Reply

    • Hi Deepthi,

      how are you?

      I think there is a Thai dessert with banana fritters. The base is very similar to our pazham pori, but it’s served with some sauce and ice cream. may be you can google it and see :)

      Reply

  12. Hi Maria,

    I love your basic recipes. I have 2 school going children and was wondering if you have any menu plan for a week/month ?

    Thanks,
    Jennifer

    Reply

    • Thanks a lot Jennifer :) Since I cook for just two of us, me n my husband, I dont have any menu plans as such… My cooking pretty much depends on what we feel like having :)

      But I do hope, you can make a menu with the help of recipes posted here..

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  14. Hi maria,
    I am a regular visitor of ur kitchen :-)..
    As my husband tells when ever i take laptop ..(ente bharyakku ake 2 site ariyu..one is marias menu and another is facebbok..:-) eevn though i am a software professional .. When i saw this recipe ,i was remembering my school days..almost every evening in banana season this will be the snack …if all little caramom to this receipe it will be a diferent taste try it….

    Reply

    • Hi Anitha,

      Thanks a lot dear! I liked your husband’s comment very much :) I’m feeling a bit selfish to say that let it be like that ennu ;)

      Yeah, adding cardamom sounds nice, some others also suggested it.

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  16. Since you are in Bahrain and I was there too, I like the Malayali way of making Chicken tikka and the gravy which comes with it sold in  Malayali restaurants. They give you very little gravy with the Chicken tikka. Could you please give us the receipe of both. My husband and I loved it when I was there. Please can you give us that receipe. It is very tasty. Thank you…m

    Reply

    • Hi Molly,

      I’m not very familiar with the chicken tikka recipe as such.. However I’ve posted a butter chicken recipe in the site. Please check it out sometime…

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  17. OK. You are using pazam (banana). We use ethakka (plantains). The maida makes the outer layer thin but the atta makes thicker and hard outer layer.

    Reply

    • Hi Smille,

      Looks like there is some slight confusion, though I’ve explained it in one of the comments already. I used ethakka only and not pazham…

      I’ve had it with both maida and atta batter and to me it didnt make much difference. However the taste and feel can vary for each person :)

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  18. Hi Sajil chetta,

    How are you?

    Ethakkappam is made of ethakka only. Here in supermarkets n all, ethakka is sold as Kerala Banana and non Malayalees also refer to it as Kerala Banana, that’s why I used that term.

    Hope its clear now :)

    Cheers
    Maria

    Reply

  19. HI MARIA,
    i recently heard that turmeric tea is good for health…. can u come up with your turmeric tea recipe…. i trust your recipe more than any other website….
    thanks

    Reply

    • Hi Lav,

      I’m really honured to know that you trust the recipes posted here. Thank you very much!

      I’m hearing about the turmeric tea for teh first time from you…If I happen to come across any good recipe of the same, I’ll try to post it here..

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

      • Never heard of it. But turmeric is very medicinal. Use with coconut oil on my child’s head to get rid of itchy rash, mixed in water to rinse madras eyes.

        Regards.

        Reply

  20. Hi Maria,

    Tried this out last weekend, and it came out excellent. This is the first time i am trying out with atta…its always been maida… and like you said, couldnt say the difference :)
    Thanks a lot for this post, it took me back in time:)
    I added half tsp of corn flour to make it extra crispy.

    Reply

  22. Thanks, maria for evoking the naalumai smells of God’s very own country! I put in a bit of baking powder also usually.. Lovely and yummy!Keep upthe good work..
    Lakshmi

    Reply

  23. Hi Maria,

    This is my all time favorite…I can eat it all day!!! We call it “boli”….ya, I know that sounds weird :)

    Can you pls post the recipe of “paachor” ? Not sure if you already have under another name.

    Thanks.

    Reply

    • Hi Preeti,

      :) boli doesnt sound weird. In fact, Jose calls it pazham boli :)

      Paachor is in my list of recipes to try, especially since it’s one of the fav dishes of my appa. Hope I could get to try it soon.

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  25. Once eaten, no one will ever forget pazhampori.
    I really miss Nendrappazham and pazhampori! Alas! I won’t get both here. :(

    Reply

  26. Loved this post cos ethakappam reminds me of my amma and home… i just got back from there, but this post makes me want to go back home again :) thanks maria!!!!

    Reply

  27. Dear Maria
                 
                       love your blog,can you update recipe of unni appam

    Reply

  29. Dear Maria

    This is a really simple and much loved nalumani palaharam. My memories of the pazham pori ( we called it pazham pori and not ethakaappam) is the same kind as yours. The long yellow ones I have only seen in restaurants / shops. Most homes make it exactly as you have mentioned it. Thanks for sharing… brings back childhood memories :-)

    Merilyn

    Reply

    • Hi Merilyn,

      Nice to know this post reminded you of your childhood days :) Yeah it’s called in different names at diff places, my husband calls it pazham boli :)

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  30. Maria, thank you for the recipe. I made banana fritters yesterday night also. I have to have some thing sweet after dinner. Did not have anything else to satisfy my cravings except a banana. Managed to quickly make fritters. My memory of banana fritters is that of school days. I was a residential student and they used to serve ethakka appam along with coffee in the evening. As you imagine we were served just one piece and I used to crave for more for days altogether. haha..
    I don’t manage to get the pieces coated well with the batter. I usually don’t add rice flour. Is that why ?
    I have tried many recipes and most came out just fine. In cases where it did not, it is my lack of skills. So, thank you !!!

    Reply

    • Hi Kat,

      Nice to know that you’ve tried recipes from here and liked them too :) I think the reason for pieces are not coated well is because the batter is not thick enough. You need a thick batter, so that it gets coated well. Rice flour is usually added to give extra crispiness.

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  31. Maria, I love your Blog. Wish I could do it too. But I love to read your whenever I can.
    I make ethakkaappam just like your recipe. Also when you say banana, did you mean Plantain?
    Sometimes I add a little molasses(sharkara pani) instead of sugar, that is a different flavor too, but good. Well there are so many little variations u can do.
    Keep going…..

    Regards
    Beena

    Reply

  32. you know what…its one of my fav fav things to eat as well. Even i have it almost every other day when im in india. here tho, the ethakka we get is horrible and somehow it doesnt end up tasting like the ones back home. So ive never made it here. my mil adds some baking powder to the batter and you get nice puffy ones..some vanilla extract also adds extra flavour. 

    Reply

    • :) I’ve tried making it with self raising flour at times when I ran out of plain flour, so yeah, it puffed up well that time. Thanks for reminding me , I’ll update the recipe with this tip :) One other reader, also mentioned about adding vanilla essence, that’s totally new to me. Looks like there are a lot of variations :)

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply

  33. Hi Maria

    Really Nostalgic….. If you add some cardamom split to the batter, will become more tasty with a different aroma….( A samll tip form my dearest housemaid who is with us for the last 13 years in Bahrain)

    Reply

  34. Ethakkappam.. my fav snack. My amma puts in her special ingredient into the mix for ethakappam.. that is 2 drops of vanilla essence.. it gives a nice taste..

    Reply

    • :) You mean the chikita variety bananas? I’ve seen it in some Thai restaurants. They serve it as dessert. However I havent tried it yet. You dont have any Indian shop near your place ?

      Reply

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