Watching how banana chips are made is akin to watching a performance. The cook works a slicer through peeled raw bananas at top speed. Thin discs of fruit fall in rapid succession into a container below. Then, they are dropped with a flourish into a giant wok of boiling coconut oil. As the golden-yellow chips crisp up, they are scooped out with a large perforated ladle, and tossed in the air for a microsecond before being laid out on a tray. One cannot help but marvel at the chip-maker’s skill.
For anyone who has grown up in Kerala, this is a familiar sight. The Malayali’s relationship with banana chips is unquestionable, not even potato in its fancy versions has been able to replace it. However, to appeal to a wider, and younger audience, the classic banana chips are now being reinterpreted.
