As much as I complain about the cold I actually prefer winter.I am definitely more relaxed. The joys of autoimmune conditions…haha! At least, hot or not, I managed to complete my Banana Puri Recipe.
Flaky Banana Puri Recipe
Trust me I hate cooking or baking when it’s hot. My kitchen becomes a furnace. We need to get rich soon so we can put up some airconditioning…Lol! If you don’t see many “cooked” recipes in Summer you know the reason why. I know somebody somewhere is going to give me a hard time about calling this Indian pastry a Banana Puri. Some days I do get a long lecture about me trying to anglicize the names. Trust me, it’s not me, I wish I didn’t have to but this is what it is called here in South Africa. If somebody is willing to do the research and tell me why our recipes are named the way they are I will gladly accept.
What is Banana Puri
In India this Flaky Banana Puri Recipe is actually referred to as Khaja. It is a deep-fried pastry, drizzled with rose,cardamom syrup and sprinkled with almonds or pistachios. Growing up I do remember my mum making this every Diwali but hers just had syrup drizzled over with some coconut. She didn’t use any nuts. I loved the ones my mum made, she had loads of syrup and coconut…just the way I loved it. I am not sure she even remembers how to make it anymore because it’s been forever since I saw her making any.
How do I make Banana Puri
Firstly you make the dough by rubbing in the cold butter and adding ice water to the dough. It is a pastry and you want it flaky so thus the ice water and cold butter. The more butter the lighter and flakier the pastry will be. I did add a little extra butter than usual to my recipe resulting in crisp, light Banana Puri. You have to refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours and you want a cold dough to work with. It is then divided into eight pieces and rolled out. I roll mine out as thin as I can. This is what makes it light and flaky. It is then layered on top of each other with a spread of butter and some cornflour. You then roll it into a swiss roll, cut it into pieces, flatten each piece a little and deep fry them. A syrup is made with sugar, water, cardamom and rose flavoring. It is then drizzled over the pastry. You can sprinkle some nuts on top if you prefer.
Is it difficult to make
Absolutely not. It looks like there’s loads of work involved but trust me it’s really not that bad. I am the queen of easy, remember…Lol! So there’s no way I would be making this if it was difficult.
Can it be stored
I would say you can store it, once completely cool, in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Although it is highly recommended that you make them and fry them the day you are serving them. I find that when stored it does lose some of the crispness. The good news is that they can be made ahead of time, frozen before the frying stage and you can fry them straight out the freezer when you’re ready to serve. More Indian Sweet Treats to try: Gulab Jamun Chana Magaj Watermelon Burfee If you loved this, please share!
