Banana-pepper fritters (Chilli baji/ Mulaku baji)

This is probably one of the common street side foods in India. As most of you are aware, this month's Monthly Blog Patrol theme is Street Food. I guess it gave all of us a good excuse to indulge in some of the tastiest snacks with which many of us have memories associated! I have a good memory to share with you. When I was a child I was not that into, nor was I allowed to have a lot of these street side snacks, eventhough I got many of these from the "bakeries" of Kerala. I dont remember the first time I had Chilli baji, but all I know is that I have loved them for so long! After my marriage, three of the intial years were spent apart from JM, in a hostel, because I was pursuing my Master's degree. Every weekend I would get on a bus for the two-hour journey back from my college to JM's place. He would come to pick me up at the bus-stop with a small packet of these yummy, crispy chilli bajis. I would gobble them up in the car itself, on the way back home, with much glee and satisfaction!! Thus my memories came flooding back when I saw these bajis on Injipenn's blog Ginger and Mango. Eventhough it wasnt exactly a fine dining treat (BTW, we had a lot of those too ;-)), I still recollect those initial sparks of love with much warmth!! Who knew MBP would bring back such fond memories! I wish I could relive those days! ;-)

This is the first time I've made these at home and its been a very long time since I've had them. I have made a few tweaks to the original recipe which can be found here. Try these out and possibly your own memories will come flooding back! This is my entry to the MBP - Street Food hosted by Sia of Passionate about life and spice. Enjoy!


Recipe (Makes 5 bajis) :

Banana peppers - 5
Chickpea flour (Besan) - scant 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Asafoetida - a small pinch
Red color - a pinch (optional)
Ginger - 1 tsp, finely minced
Water - about 1/4 cup or as needed
Oil - for frying

Method:

Mix all the ingredients except banana peppers to form a somewhat thick batter.

Make slits on the sides of the peppers without going all the way through or without splitting the pepper.

Dip the peppers in the batter.

Deep fry the peppers in hot oil on medium heat, until crisp and cooked.

Drain on paper towels.

Serve hot with ketchup.



Tips:

1. The red color added to the batter is entirely optional. No additional flavor is imparted.
2. Banana peppers are not very hot. But if you are not fond of spicy snacks, either remove the seeds without splitting the peppers or do not consume the end near the stem.
3. If there is excess batter, you can also use onions, potatoes, cauliflower etc to make yummy pakodas!