Thursday, February 20, 2020

Unnakaya/ Unnakai /Kayi ada




Unnakaya is another Malabar special delicacy made with medium ripe plantain which is stuffed with a sweet coconut filling.
This time, it was my 11 year old  who did the stuffing part and I think he did a pretty good job shaping it like unnakayas.
Here goes the recipe



Ingredients ( makes 8 unnakayas)
Medium ripe plantain – 2
Grated coconut – ½ cup
Cashewnut – 1 ½ tbs ( chopped pieces)
Raisins/sultanas – 2 tbs
Sugar – 2 tbs
Cardamom – 5 pods
Ghee -1 tbs
Oil for frying

Method
  • Steam cook the plantain for about 8-10 minutes. Do not overcook it, otherwise it becomes too watery and you won’t be able to shape it.
  • Peel the skin and slit the banana into half to remove the black seeds inside.
  • Mash the banana well without any lumps to form smooth dough.
  • Powder 5 cardamom seeds with 2 tbs sugar and keep it aside.
  • Add ghee in a pan on medium heat and when it melts add chopped cashews.
  •  When it starts to turn light brown, add raisins. Fry it until it plumps up.
  • Add grated coconut to it and fry for a minute or so. 
  • Add cardamom sugar and cook for few more seconds until sugar melts.Filling is ready.
  • Take a lemon sized ball of the mashed banana and flatten it with your palm.
  • Place some filling in the middle and seal the edges and shape it like unnakaya.
  • Repeat until all the dough is used up. I got 8 unnakayas from two  medium sized plantain.
  • In a pan add oil and heat it on a medium flame. When the oil is hot fry the unnakaya in batches by flipping the sides in between until it’s golden brown.                                           

Enjoy !

1 comment:

FLAVZCORNER said...

I have been wanting to make it for a while. I have never tried it, but everything that goes in it sounds so delicious! I have to find some good plantains now.