Banana chips

Banana chips are usually deep fried slices of raw unripe banana or Plantain and my family loves them and so do I, Banana chips are a great option for the 5 o'clock hunger. I always brought them from the local grocery shop or a random sweet mart; But recently, I found this guy near my local vegetable market sitting with a huge wok outside a really small stall, on a closer look this guy was slicing plantain or raw banana into the hot oil simmering in the wok. He was using a mandoline slicer to slice the banana's directly into the hot oil, and man! he had some speed !! You had to watch him do that, I stood there watching him do his work; unaffected by the amount of heat coming from the oil or the number of people lining up to buy, he kept slicing, frying and pouring the freshly fried chips into the huge plate kept next to him; while the people kept lining up to buy. The fragrance of those freshly fried chips filled up my mind so I went and stood in the line too, by the time my turn came I was already drooling and gobbled up a few chips even before he could pack them; in my defence : how could I resist?? Man! they were delicious! Very lightly salted and perfectly crispy, the flavour of the raw banana was still perfectly retained. 

That day and today, I have never brought banana chips from anywhere else. He smiles widely everytime I am at his shop, probably because I start eating even before he can pack the chips! 

When I went vegetable shopping this time, I saw raw banana's hanging by a rope outside a vegetable stall and almost instantly banana chips just flashed before my eyes, I would normally turn around and find my banana chips wala guy and buy to my hearts content but this time I thought maybe I should try making them at home, and so I did. Luckily, they turned out perfectly and here is the recipe for you guys, I dare you to eat just one:)

Preparation time: 00  Cooking time: 15 minutes Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Raw Banana/plantain (4)
Salt for seasoning
Oil for frying

Method:

1. In a wok or deep bottomed pan heat oil.
2. Peel and slice the banana's or plantain (which ever you are using)with the help of a mandoline. (You can even slice them thin with a knife but using a mandoline ensures that you get very thin slices, which in turn will ensure that your chips turn out crisp.)
3. Once the oil is medium hot, deep fry the banana slices. 
4. Don't over crowd the chips, fry the chips in batches because the banana chips tend to stick to each other which results in undercooked and soft chips.
5. The chips will change colour and become a little translucent looking once they are done.
6. Remove the chips with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
7. Sprinkle with your choice of seasoning. You can season with black pepper powder and salt or red chilli powder and salt or any other seasoning of your choice.
8. You can either serve them right away or store them in an air tight container for later once they are at room temperature. Enjoy:)

Tip: Banana chips tastes great seasoned simply with a little salt.
Do not slice the banana or plantain in advance because they will start turning black if you do. 
It will be great if you can directly slice the banana/plantain into the hot oil, but this will need practice, so be very careful if you choose to do it this way.