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.

Aranitas-Little Spiders

Aranitas are shredded and fried raw plantain fritters from PuertoRico.The term in Spanish means little spiders and these are garlicky and perfectly easy to make.I first came across this dish in Foodnetwork show -Ingrid Hoffmanns' Simply Delicioso. For those who think plantain fritters are a part of Kerala tradition then this is another equally tasty version. Again not much of a recipe,but the procedure of shredding and forming fritters of the plantain is interesting.

Ingredients:
Raw Plantain Banana: atleast 1
Garlic :1 clove
Salt & Pepper : as needed

Preparation:

Peel the plantain -make sure only the skin/peel is removed. Grate the peeled plantain in the big holes of the box grater.

Mince garlic finely -make a paste of it- and mix with salt.Add this and pepper to the grated plantains and mix well.You can add more salt as per taste.Also instead or minced garlic,garlic salt can be added which ensures that the garlic is totally blended with the plantains.Form small balls from this mixture.Make sure you make these balls gently .

Deep fry the fritters in hot oil till golden brown and drain on paper towels.Serve warm as an anytime snack.Garlicky plantain fritters (chips as they are also known) are ready.

Do check out the original recipe and also check out Cynthia's amazing looking aranitas.My aranitas are not on par with them.This could also be because of the type of plantain available here and er,.. also my skills.Well, again these PuertoRican snacks are going to the AWED:Caribbean at FlavorPantry,an even by DK.

The plantain saga continues...................