Guest Post : Unnakaya

        Its another guest post for the month, a few months back I did a guest post for Sweet Tooth by Rafeeda. This time I've invited Raf to be my special guest for this month post. It suppose to be posted last week; but Rafeeda was busy and so was I...so without any doubt I changed it :)

I recently know her through the blogging world, she's kind person; love all her recipes and I can see her passion towards cooking its just beyond words :) anyway, let Raf do the talking. 

Salaam to all…

When Shazzy emailed me with a request for a guest post, I did take it with open hands. I seem to love the idea of guest posts. I love the interaction that comes along with it. That really explains why I have done so many guest posts till date, this being my 11th one in the span of around 9 months of blogging!

A little introduction about myself. I am Rafeeda, who blogs at The Big Sweet Tooth, who is a Keralite Indian based in the UAE. A working mother with two beautiful daughters, so far, the Almighty has been very kind to me. I enjoy cooking as a stress buster from my otherwise packed life. I have known Shazzy in this blogger world for some time and she was featured in my “Be My Guest” series as well. I really admire that despite having  a small baby to take care, she blogs fairly and top of that, manages a little baking business from her home, which is not a simple thing! Baking at large scale can be stressful, and hats off to her for managing it quite successfully, MaShaAllah! Here’s wishing Shazzy a lot of growth and prosperity… 

While thinking about what to give Shazzy for featuring on her blog, my mind went to a very traditional snack which is so synonymous to the Malabar region – the Unnakkaaya. “Unna” means cotton pods and “kaaya” means plantains. The snack is made of ripe plantains and is melt in the mouth, which kind of explains the name of the snack!!! Without much ado, going off to the recipe…

Unnakkaaya/ Plantain Cotton Pods

Makes 12-14

Ingredients:

3 plantains, neither ripe nor raw

1/2 tbsp ghee

5 cashews, crushed

10 raisins

5 tbsp coconut grated

2 tbsp sugar

A pinch cardamom powder

1 small egg

Oil for frying

Method:

Boil the unpeeled plantains in sufficient water till it becomes soft.  Peel off the skin while still hot and mash it well without any lumps with your hand or with a potato masher. Keep aside. The mashed plantains will be like a pliable dough. 

Heat the ghee in a fry pan. Fry the cashews and raisins for a few seconds. Then add in the coconut, sugar and the cardamom and mix well till it becomes crisp. Do not brown it. Make a hole in the center, break the egg in and scramble it well. Combine it along with the coconut mixture and keep stirring till the mixture becomes dry. Switch off and set to cool. 

Divide the plantains and the coconut mixture into 12 to 14 equal portions. Grease your hand well with oil. Take a ball of plantain mash and spread into a round shape. Place some mixture in the center and slowly close with the mixture inside. Shape it into a cylinder. Keep on a plate. Repeat the same till everything is finish. 

Heat oil in a deep frying pan. When the oil becomes really hot, drop in a couple of unnakkayas and fry till it becomes golden brown. Drain on a kitchen towel. Serve warm with a hot cup of chai!!!

Notes:

1. The plantain mash should be pliable. If it is slightly watery, then it becomes difficult to manage. To adjust, you may add a tbsp of all-purpose flour or rice flour and mix well to make it thick. 

2. The plantains used should not be raw or not overripe. It should be of medium ripeness, otherwise the taste would not be good. 

3. The inner filling can be only coconut or only egg. Normally sweet scrambled egg is used. 

4. While working on the unnakayas, really grease your hand, I mean, really!!!

5. You can freeze the unnakayas for around a month. When ready to fry, you can just thaw it for an hour and fry in hot oil till done. 

Hope you loved this post as much as I enjoyed preparing it for you, Shazzy! It was a pleasure doing this for you. I hope that the readers have also enjoyed the recipe. 

Its a beautiful snack to enjoy and its definitely going into my recipe books. Thanks for your kind word Rafeeda :)

Lovelies, hope you all enjoy this too!