Unni Madhuram/ Sweet Banana Balls

Unni madhuram is a sweet snack made with left over bread and ripe plantains. There are several recipes for deep fried banana balls and my personal favorite is undan pori, a popular tea stall snack.I am loving unni mathuram because of its simplicity and taste .Both these snack are crispy and sweet and made with bananas. Unni mathuram is a Malabar snack. It is extra crunchy in the outside with a sweet spongy center.It is a quick fix snack and kids will love this tea time snack.

Ingredients
Ripe plantains-2
Banana/cheru pazham-2 (optional)
Bread sliced- 6
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 3-4 tbs
Salt- a pinch
Cashew nuts -5-6
Ghee- 1 tsp
Oil for frying

Use dry left over bread for this recipe. You can sun dry it or lightly toast it in the oven.
Cut bread into bits and add to a food processor. Pulse a few times. You will get course crumbs. Reserve two to three tbs of bread crumbs and use the rest for the recipe.

Chop cashew nuts finely and roast in ghee till golden brown.

Finely chop the plantains into small pieces. To this add mashed small plantain/cheru pazham , cardamom powder, salt, sugar , roasted cashew nuts and ghee. Blend and lightly mash this with your hand and add the bread crumbs and mix. Knead like a dough so that the crumbs become moist and it becomes a homogeneous mixture.
Heat oil in a pan. Take small portions of the dough and make small lemon sized balls. Roll each in the reserved bread crumbs and carefully slide into the oil. Fry in medium for two to three minutes or till the dumplings turn golden brown. Drain into paper towels.Serve with tea.