Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Unnakaya

Unnakaya is a snack very popular in the Malabar area.It gets its name from its shape which resembles the 'Unnakaya' or the cotton Pod. Made up of mashed boiled ripe plantains stuffed with coconut,sugar , nut and raisin mixture and then deep fried , it is indeed a Royal Malabar Treat. Typically eggs are also added to the filling.I have not used eggs in this recipe, so it is not the traditional recipe.

Ingredients:
  1. Plantain/Nenthrappazham-2 (not over ripe)
  2. Grated coconut- 1/2 cup
  3. Sugar- 4 tbsp
  4. Raisins- 1 tbsp
  5. broken Cashew nuts- 2 tbsp
  6. Ghee-1 tbsp
  7. Salt-a very small pinch
  8. Cardamom powder-1 tsp
  9. Oil-For deep frying
Method:
Cook the Plantain by steaming it in a pressure cooker or microwave until it is soft.
Remove the skin and mash the cooked plantain to a dough like consistency and keep aside.
Heat ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and raisins in it .Add in the grated coconut and sugar and cardamom plus a pinch of salt and stir well until you get a dry mixture, keep aside to cool.
Apply Ghee to your palm and make a lemon sized ball of the mashed plantain and flatten it .
Place a spoon full of the grated coconut filling and roll it into the typical unnakaya shape.
Deep fry in hot oil until brown.

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