South African Banana Fritters

South African Banana Fritters Recipe-

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

4 or 5 medium sized ripe bananas

3 eggs

1 cup milk

6 Tbsp sugar

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Confectioner’s sugar

Directions

1. Stir the flour and sugar together, in a deep mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time with a wire whisk. Whisking constantly, add the milk approximately 1/3 cup at a time. Continue to beat until the batter is smooth and elastic enough to stretch like a ribbon from the beater when the beater is lifted out of the bowl.

2. Peel the bananas, chop or slice them coarsely, and place them in a shallow bowl. Mash the bananas to a smooth puree, using the tines of a table fork.

3. Stir the puree into the batter and allow the mixture to rest at room temperature for approximately 30 minutes before frying. Pour oil into a deep fryer or a larger, heavy saucepan to a depth of 2-3 inches. Heat the oil until it shimmers with heat.

4. For each fritter, ladle approximately ¼ cup of the banana batter into the hot oil. Deep-fry 2 or 3 fritters at a time, taking care to leave enough space between them to allow them to spread into 4 inch rounds or oblongs. Turning once or twice with a slotted spoon, fry for approximately 3 minutes or until the fritters are a rich, golden color on all sides.

5. As they brown, transfer the banana fritters to paper towels and allow them to drain. While the fritters are still warm, sprinkle lightly with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately.

            My fourth “visit” around the world is all the way in Africa. Since bananas are one of their major food sources, Africans have had to create several banana treats throughout all of history. The banana fritter, most popular in South Africa, is a deep-fried concoction that has a strong and delicious banana taste. When I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it!

            The South African banana fritters recipe was found from the website www.whats4eats.com/desserts (this site has several other yummy-looking recipes, so I highly recommend it if you’re looking for more). The first step to this sweet treat was pretty easy – the only thing I would add is to watch how much milk you pour. Don’t add the full amount right away; instead, add little bits at a time as you watch to see how dry or runny the mixture is. You don’t want your dough to be too moist, like mine was. I had to add extra flour in order for the dough to become drier. The second step says to “mash the bananas to a smooth puree, using the tines of a table fork”. Well, the tines of a table fork don’t exactly make it as smooth as the directions suggest. My mashed bananas still had some chunks in them, but it turned out fine in the end. The last step in the directions was the frying portion. As you pour the batter into the hot oil, several little pieces will break off. I used a slotted spoon to scoop them out, and I set them on a separate little plate, so as not to let them burn and stick to the fritters.

             The banana fritters were a little strange-looking when they came out of the hot oil; one side looked flat (like it does in the picture), but the other side looked more like a funnel cake. I thought this was pretty weird, and their appearance wasn’t exactly the most appetizing... but it didn’t matter, because they tasted delicious! The fritters were surprisingly rich, and had a strong banana taste. The outside was sweet and crispy, and the middle was gooey, with some small chunks of banana that added to the flavor. Also, as the recipe suggests, you should definitely serve them immediately. If you wait, even for a couple of hours, they will become soggy and cold. Despite this little downside, the South African banana fritters turned out really good!