Banana chips

Banana chips are deepfried and/or dried slices of banana. They can be covered with sugar or honey and have a sweet taste, or they can be fried in oil and spices and have a salty and/or spicy taste. Variants of banana chips may be covered with chocolate instead. Usually, the chips are produced from underripe bananas, of which slices are deepfried in sunflower oil or coconut oil, which are then dried, and to which preservatives are added. These varieties of chips can be very oily, due to the deepfrying process. Another form of fried banana chips, usually made in Kerala (India) and known locally as upperi, is fried in coconut oil. Both ripe and unripe bananas are used for this variant. Sometimes they are coated with masala or jaggery to form both spicy and sweet variants. It is an integral part of the traditional Kerala meal called sadya served during weddings and traditional festivals such as Onam Banana Chips. Made from unripe bananas and deep fried in coconut oil, thesebanana chips are crispy and tasty. These South Indian fried snacks are largely demanded in domestic as well as international markets.