Banana fritters

🍌 Ripe dessert banana purée in a yeast-raised wheat batter, fried in small batches. About twenty fritters, four portions of five.

Ingredients

• 500 g ripe dessert banana flesh, peeled weight
• 300 g wheat flour
• 30 g sugar
• 5 g instant dried baker’s yeast
• 2 g salt
• 0–50 ml lukewarm water, only as dough consistency requires
• 1 litre neutral frying oil for the bath; not all is consumed

Preparation

Peel sound bananas, remove strings, weigh 500 g flesh and mash finely in a clean bowl.

Mix flour, sugar and instant yeast, then stir into banana. Add salt and combine; follow yeast package directions if activation is required.

Check consistency before adding water. Add up to 50 ml gradually only as needed for a soft sticky dough that briefly holds on a spoon, not a liquid batter.

Cover cleanly and let rise about 90 minutes in a temperate place until visibly expanded and bubbly. Extend if cool; avoid strong heat.

Prepare a rack or absorbent-paper plate. Heat oil in a stable deep pan, no more than half full, to about 170 °C without smoking.

Gently stir dough and portion about 40 g with two dry spoons. Fry four at a time for five to seven minutes, turning for even colour.

After brief cooling, open a first fritter to ensure a cooked centre without raw dough. Lower oil heat slightly and extend cooking if browning too fast. Repeat to about twenty.

Drain with a slotted spoon, then rack or paper, and cool to warm before serving four portions. Refrigerate cooled leftovers promptly and use within 24 hours after reheating.