Banana nuggets or fitters are one of my most favorite snack recipes. Growing up in India, we had two banana plants in our backyard. I have fond memories of how we used every part of this plant. The leaves, the flowers, the bananas and the stems! I decided that I would have my own banana plant whenever I get the opportunity.
Community Garden
I got my opportunity a few years back when we moved to Orlando. A friend of mine told me about a community garden where I could rent out a 30 square foot plot. I was very excited-in addition to tomatoes, eggplants, green beans, bell peppers and Indian chili peppers, I planted a banana plant.
My Banana Plant
When it started growing tall, folks that ran the community garden objected to my banana plant. They said it was creating a shade that was not good for the other plants to grow under. They wanted me to get rid of it. So, I dug it out one day (all 3.5 feet of it) by myself, put it in a large pot, shoved it into the trunk of my car and drove it home. It was very messy-I had to do a lot of cleaning later, but it was worth it! I dug a hole in my backyard, stuck the plant in there, added some soil and literally forgot about it.
My Banana Plant
Crispy, Delicious, Banana Nuggets
My mom would always make fried nuggets. They are delicious! Yes, fried stuff is not great for health, but the occasional indulgence is OK. I’m bad at frying. Not only is it unhealthy, it is a laborious process. So, I decided to try healthier ways (bake, air fry) to cook these nuggets. It took me several tries to get the temperature and time right. It was very important for me to get the texture as close to the fried version as possible.
Air Fried Banana Nuggets
In order to try yet another healthy way to cook these nuggets, I cooked them in an air fryer. I had never used an air fryer for anything other than potatoes. We used to own a T-Fal Air Fryer but that didn’t impress me much because of how its designed. My wife recently ordered a Ninja Air Fryer since she does large batches of sweet potatoes for her breakfasts. She wasn’t happy either with our T-Fal. I was totally impressed with how they turned out in the Ninja Air Fryer-absolutely perfect! Crispy outside and soft inside. I set it at 375 for 12 minutes but they were ready in 10!
Air Fried Nuggets
Freezing Banana Nuggets
As a result of the COVID 19 situation, I had to rethink my meal planning. Fewer trips to grocery stores meant that I had to buy more and store longer. I ended up buying a large batch of raw bananas that would make me 60 odd nuggets. My wife gave me the brilliant suggestion of freezing them- I had never even considered that. It turned out great because these nuggets freeze so well, and you can cook them right out of the freezer. How awesome is that?! Now I always have a few packets of nuggets handy in my freezer.
Freezing Nuggets
Nutritionally, raw banana is a good source of fiber, vitamins and minerals, and contains a starch called Resistant Starch, that may help control blood sugar, manage weight and lower blood cholesterol levels.
Check out our other delicious raw banana/plantain and related recipes:
- Raw Banana-Potato Sauté
- Crunchy Baked Plantain Chips
- Raw Plantain With Yogurt Curry
- Banana Stem Curry
- Banana Flower Curry
Check out some of our other baked or air fried snack recipes:
- Cabbage Wada: Savory Cabbage Lentil Bites
- Crispy Air-Fried Masala Okra
- Air Fryer Masala Wada – Lentil Burger Patties & Fritters
- Vegan, Spicy, Baked Eggplant
- Baked Okra
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Crispy, Delicious, Banana Nuggets
Ingredients
- 2 Bananas Raw Banana - Peel, cut to 1 inch cubes
- 1 Tablespoon Chickpea Flour - Gram Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Rice Flour
- 2 Peppers Green Chili Pepper - Large
- 1/3 Cup Onion - Fine cut
- 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt - Or to taste
- 1 Tablespoon Avocado Oil
Instructions
Prep instructions:
- 1. Peel the skin off raw banana and cut to inch size cubes 2. Cook them under high pressure for 15 minutes (IP or pressure cooker)3. In a small mortar pestle, crush green chili pepper 4. Add chickpea and rice flour, raw onion, crushed chili pepper, salt, oil and a 1/4 cup of water to the cooked plantain and mix well, turning it into a coarse mush (not watery).
Bake instructions:
- Make patties of the batter with your hands (flat and round) and set them on a foil (with oil spread on it) evenly spaced. Set oven to a temperature of 375 F and bake for 12 minutes. Now set oven to broil (high) for 3 minutes.
- Make sure the nuggets are evenly brown and crisp on the surface before pulling them out.
- Transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.
What a fascinating recipe. I often have overripe banana’s. But do I see correctly in your picture that the banana you used is not ripe yet? So you use unripe, peeled banana’s? As soon as I have your answer I will definitely make this.
Thank you Myra. The bananas in this recipe are actually called plantains – a different variety from their yellow cousins. You can use overripe yellow bananas in smoothies (https://healthy-indian.com/recipes/banana-avocado-smoothie/) or in breads (https://healthy-indian.com/recipes/zucchini-banana-bread/). Cheers!