Indian recipe

Crispy Plantain Chips

Name: Crispy Plantain Chips
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: raw (green) plantains: not regular bananas (a few); oil (for frying); 1 tsp salt; ½ tsp turmeric powder; ¼ cup water

Also known as banana chips, kaya varuthathu, nendran chips

Freshly homemade, crispy Kerala-style banana chips, the best tea-time snack, with a clever salt trick.

Did you know? In Kerala, banana chips are traditionally fried in coconut oil, and they’re a must on the banana leaf at every Onam sadya. Read my story →

VegSnackKeralaTea time⏱ ~25 min▶ Subscribe on YouTube

Tick items off as you go

Ingredients

a fewraw (green) plantains: not regular bananas
for fryingoil

Salt-turmeric water

1 tspsalt
½ tspturmeric powder
¼ cupwater

1
Use raw plantains, not regular bananas. Plantains are best for frying.
2
Peel: make slits along the skin and peel it off.
3
Slice (method 1) with a slicer, and separate the slices so they don't stick.
4
Mix the salt water: 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp turmeric and ¼ cup water.
5
Fry in hot oil, dropping the slices in gently.
6
Or slice straight into the oil (method 2), handy for larger quantities. Careful around hot oil!
7
Fry until crispy.
8
Add the salt water. Add about 1 tsp of the mix to the hot oil. It sizzles; wait until the sound stops. The chips are now evenly salted and golden yellow.
9
Lift out once it settles and drain on paper towel.

Tips from the video

Plantains, not bananas. Ripe sweet bananas won't crisp up the same way.

Separate the slices so they don't stick together in the oil.

Salt goes in the oil. Adding salt-turmeric water at the end coats every chip evenly.

Safety first. Stay alert, as the oil sizzles hard when the salt water goes in.

💡 Extra tips, not in the video Bonus tips

Slice thin and even (about 1–2 mm) so all the chips crisp at the same time.

Store airtight only once completely cool, so they stay crunchy.

The story behind the dish

Learning from Kerala's chip vendors

Walking around Kerala, you see street vendors making chips by slicing plantains straight into hot oil and then adding turmeric water to the oil. It was intriguing to watch them add water to boiling oil, and it's fine.

So I tried the same method at home, with a lot of curiosity, and the results were so satisfying. Surprisingly, with just a teaspoon of the salt-turmeric water, the oil sizzles loudly but doesn't splash around you. It has to be seen to be believed.

And homemade plantain chips taste so good!

Curry++ · 7 November 2026

💡

From the hacks library · added 6 Nov

Make your own chai masala

Toast whole spices for 5 minutes, blend to a powder, and add a pinch whenever you make tea. It's homemade masala chai in seconds. From Masala Chai →

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Crispy Plantain Chips

Ingredients

Salt-turmeric water

Tips from the video

💡 Extra tips, not in the video Bonus tips

Learning from Kerala's chip vendors

Make your own chai masala

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