Tostones-Twice Fried Plantains

Tostones or Patacones are twice fried plantains that are common to all varieties/countries/areas in the Caribbean and also the South Americas.These are sliced raw /green plantains which are twice fried,second time after mashing them.Traditionally but optionally they are served with Aji Salsa using Aji peppers.I was aghast at the concept of serving with a dip of anykind but still I rustled up a simple tomato -roasted green chilly salsa and found that the combo was perfect.

Again the recipe is easy and the procedure interesting.If Aranitas included grater then this involves another vessel /any firm object for mashing up the plantains.

Ingredients:

Raw Bananas: atleast 1

Salt/Garlic Salt: I used normal salt

Oil: for deep frying

Preparation:
Peel the bananas properly.Make sure you are removing only the thicker peel and not the fleshy part.For more guidance refer the video of tostones here or the recipe here.

Cut the peeled plantains into pieces.It looks like...

Deep fry the pieces in hot vegetable oil till golden brown.This makes sure that the insides are cooked as well.

Take a fried plantain,keep it within heat proof ziploc bag.You can also keep the fritter within two sheets of parchment for this.

Take a flat & bit heavy bottomed pan/plate.I used a small plate for this.You can also use a tawa .

Flatten the fritter by pressing the plate on top of the ziploc bag/parchment.It looks like...

Repeat the same for others...

At This stage,you can freeze the tostonesfor later use.

Deep fry the fritters again in hot oil and drain on paper towels.Sprinkle salt /garlic salt on top of these imediately after removing from oil.

Serve with your choice of salsa or a dip .Again this is optional.I prefer eating them as such as we are used to eating plantain chips just like that.But when I tried it with a simple salsa I loved the combo as well.

Simple Tomato Coriander Salsa:

I tossed together chopped tomato,chopped onion,chopped cilantro and chopped roasted green chillies along with salt,little pepper and lemon juice.I simply roasted the green chillies on gas top and chopped and used it.Go with any salsa you want.

Top the patacones with the salsa and have a hearty snack.

Well,atlast the plantain saga is over.So a warm plate of patacones goes to Jamie of FlavorPantry for AWED:Caribbean an event by dear DK.