Janmashtami Special : Banana Fritters or Bengali Kolar Bora

The famous Indian festive season is on! Since India is a multicultural country enriched with different community and their culture, in each month you will find at least one festival getting celebrated. But there is a time span of around 3 months when major communities celebrate their largest festivals. Generally, September to November is that time which is known as festive season in India. It’s already started with Eid al-Fitr and next is Krishna Janmashtami. Then Ganesh Puja, Durga Puja, Diwali and so on. I will try to keep you guys posted on each and every festival along with the food style.

As tomorrow i.e. 28^th august is Krishna Janmashtami (which is more popularly known as Janmashtami), I’m concentrating on it now. It’s the annual celebration of the birth of Hindu God Lord Krishna. Many parts of India including Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and few southern parts of India celebrates this festival. As Janmashtami is celebrated in many regions in India, we have different types of food for this festival. But all the items are known to be the favorites of Lord Krishna. Most popular few items are Rava Halwa (Semolina Pudding), Burfi, Badam Halwa, Shrikhand, Rice pudding, Malpua, Gokul Pithe, Kolar Bora (Banana Fritters), Taal Kheer (Asial Palm Pudding), Taaler Bora (Asian Palm Fritters) and many more delicious desserts.

Now back to our food section, today I’m sharing the recipe of Banana Fritters or Bengali Kolar Bora. Apart from Janmashtamithis Banana Fritters or Bengali Kolar Bora is also known as a popular tea time snack or sometimes as light dessert. Banana Fritters are not only an Indian snack/dessert it has an international touch. Burmese, Indonesia, Philippines, Malay, Thai cuisines also share their own variations of this Banana Fritters. Sometimes savory banana fritters are also enjoyed with the sweet banana fritters.

Here is the simplest recipe of soft chewy Bengali Kolar Bora or Banana Fritters.

Preparation Time: 05 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Resting Time: 0 mins

Total Time: 15 mins

Yield: 2 dozens

Ingredients:

Ripe banana: 2

Rice flour: 1 cup

All-purpose flour: 2 tbsp

Milk powder: 2 tbsp (optional)

Powdered sugar: ½ cup (adjust the amount according to your taste)

Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp (optional)

Baking powder: ½ tsp (optional)

Oil to fry

Equipment:

Large mixing bowl

Frying pan or Wok

Preparation:

Peel the bananas and smash them in the mixing bowl. Use the potato masher for this job.

Pour the powdered sugar and mix with a spatula.

Pour rest of the ingredients (except oil) in the same mixing bowl and mix thoroughly until everything comes together.

Pour enough oil in wok/frying pan to fry the fritters and heat on medium flame. When the oil is hot, take an ice-cream scoop filled with the mixture and drop the mixture in the hot oil. You can also use a tablespoon instead of ice-cream scoop. Fry 6-8 fritters at a time. Don’t over crowd the wok.

Fry the dumplings till nicely golden brown in color. Once done remove the fritters from oil with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil.

Serve the Banana Fritters or Kolar Bora warm with your evening hot tea. If you are planning to serve as dessert, drizzle honey on the Banana Fritters or Kolar Bora and serve warm.