Shakara Varatti is a special chips prepared in kerala. It is unique in taste and can be found in almost every Malayali household. This chips has the meaning and the description of its name in the name itself. Shakara varatti is a Malayalam word (language spoken by people of Kerala). Shakara means sweet and varatti means coated. Yeah right, this chips is sweet in taste and it is coated in jaggery which gives it this unique taste , hence it has this name.
I have few malayali family friends and also i have few malayali friends while i was in college and i had a good opportunity to taste and explore their food and recipes. Kerala recipes are quite simple and not much complicated to prepare. Kerala being a coastal state , malayalis use things which are commonly and easily available in abundance over there. Being a coastal area, it is abundant in coconut trees, banana tree , rice , fish and ground vegetables. That being a reason, you can see many keralities using coconut and coconut oil for cooking. Coconut oil is believed to have many health benefits and beauty benefits. Well let me come to the recipe. Its a delicious recipe which almost tastes like a traditional candy. It requires less ingredients but needs good concentration of mind and little patience for preparing this recipe. But the secret of making any recipe delicious is just prepare with love and affection and serve it much love and affection even the worst made food would taste delicious.So, here am posting the shakarra varatti recipe, i cant post the preparation pics though since most of the pics turned out to be blurred and had bad quality of light. But i will surely make it a point to prepare this once again when i get time and post the pics on this blog. As of now, I am elaborately explaining the method of preparing this recipe. This was the first time i prepared this, but am satisfied with the outcome so hope it would help those who read it too.
Ingredients:
Unripe plantains(Raw Bananas) - 1 kg (it usually counts to 5 bananas)
Jaggery( - 300 gm
Cardamom( - 5 nos
Dry ginger and cumin seeds powder - 1 tbsp (add just 2-3 pinches of cumins to make powder)
Coconut oil - 250 gm
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Sour curd - 1/2 glass .
Method:
- Peel the skin of the plantains(Raw bananas).
- Slit the banana lengthwise and cut it into 1/4" pieces.
- Put them in warm water for few minutes , say some 10-15 mins.
- Take enough water to cover the plantain pieces.
- Pour sour curd into this water to get rid of the plantains’ serum. Usually raw plantains are sticky and this makes it uneasy to use . This white sticky thing which looks like serum makes the pieces cling to each other thus making it imperfect. Sour curd washes away those sticky serums thus giving you clean pieces of plantains for chip which stays seperated from each other.
- Keep this aside like this for some 30-40 mins. So that the sour curd removes away those sticky serums completely. It won't change the taste anyhow nor would the chips would taste sour.
- Now strain the excess water off.
- Now take a clean piece of cloth (water absorbale cloth) and pat dry the plantains. So that oil won't throw some boiling sparks on you while frying them.
- Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel . Let it heat for sometime and then lower the flame as this would make the chips crisper.
- Put the plantains pieces in the oil . Put in batches so that it is fried nicely.
- Keep a check on them continuously by stirring in between so that it doesn't get sticked to each other.
- Cook in medium to low fire until the pieces start turning brown. Allow them to cook and fry them properly so that chips are crispy. It will take some time. (Here is a nice tip to know that the chips are fried. When the foams around the chips in hot oil are reduced, its a indication that its well friend and cooked but also be careful not the let them change the color to dark brown).
- Once the chips are fried remove the pieces from the oil using a strainer and put them in a tissue paper to absorb excess oil.
- Dissolve jaggery in water and bring this to a boil.
- When the boil settles down and the mixture becomes thick.
- Add the plantains into the boiling jaggery one by one .
- The consistency is right if you see thin jaggery threads forming while you stir the plantain pieces.
- Add powdered cardamom and dry ginger-cumin powder and mix well. So that the spices gets coated on each chip pieces.Also add ghee and mix well.
- Now the nicely coated coated jaggery pieces could be seen visibly seperated and turning dry. (In case, it doesn't look completely dry then add 2-3 tablespoons of fine sugar to this and stir well).
- Shakara varatti is ready. Allow it to cool down and then store them in a air-tight container. It remains for 1 month if stored properly.
Preparation Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Shelflife: 1 -2 months if stored in air-tight container
Serves: Can be easily served to 20-15 persons
Serving Suggestions: Serve as a evening snack or serve it with lunch.
Note:
- Don't ever fry the chips directly in the oil. Do soak them in the sour curd for atleast 30 mins.
- For safety reasons especially beginners, do pat the chips in a dry clean cloth after removing from water and then fry them in oil so that boiling oil doesn't harm you.
- Keep stirring occasionally while frying, so that the chips doesn't stick to each other.
- When the foams around the chips in hot oil are reduced, its a indication that its well friend and cooked but also be careful not the let them change the color to dark brown.
- The jaggery is important part of this recipe. The consistency is right if you see thin jaggery threads forming while you stir the plantain pieces.
- In case, it doesn't look completely dry then add 2-3 tablespoons of fine sugar to this and stir well. This would let it dry and make perfect chips
Click here to know more about Kerala recipes and cuisines - An Introduction to Kerala Recipes and Cuisines.
Click here to know more about Indian sweets and desserts - An Introduction to Indian Sweets And Indian Desserts.
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In this recipe of Sharkara you have mentioned 1 tblsp ghee as an ingredient but in the method nowhere ghee is mentioned. Can you please let me know if this is required or no. This is one of my favourite snack items and I have never made it but would like to try it and get it right or nearly right
I must have forgot to mention. I apologise for the same. Add ghee while mixing it with the jaggery. I have rectified and mentioned it. Please read and give your valuable feedback
Thank you so very much for the clarification. I am gonna try this soon and will give you my feedback.
Hi! I tried this. The taste was good but since I had cut the pieces big some of them didn't get fried properly. You have really given all the tips to follow very well. Excellent! I am sure next time i try this it is gonna be perfect if I take heed to all the tips :-) Cheers!
Thank you very much. Your feedback has given a big inspiration. Do keep reading my blog , I will soon be back here to post many recipes.