Banana Chips are a tasty and crispy vegetarian Indian snack, also known as kele ke chips. Learn to make healthier banana chips in an air fryer.
About Banana Chips
Banana Chips, known in Hindi kele ke chips, are a vegan, gluten-free, crispy snack made with raw banana or plantain.
They are one of the beloved snacks across South India. From traditional snack shops to supermarkets, you will find plantain chips in various flavours in South India. Over the years, they have also become a widely loved edible souvenir for travellers.
Traditionally, these kele ke chips are deep-fried in coconut oil and later seasoned with only black pepper and salt.
I am sharing a healthier non-fried version of classic banana chips done in an air fryer with minimal oil.
Homemade vs Packaged Chips
One debatable question that always comes up about homemade chips – why make them at home?
My Answer: Homemade Chips are free of artificial flavour, colour, preservatives, and chemicals. They are made using grade-A quality oil in a hygienic environment. You can customize the seasoning and quantity of chips as per requirement ( make a small or large batch ).
All these reasons apply to homemade banana chips also.
More Reasons To Make Chips At Home
- air fryer friendly
- zero preservatives
- no wastage of oil
- easy to customize
- gluten and nut free
- vegan and vegetarian
Ingredients Required
Banana: You need green bananas (kachha kela) or plantain for making chips. A plantain is more like a potato with no taste, thick skin, and starchy. Do not use ripe bananas. I make a delicious sabzi and kebab using it.
Seasoning: Salt, Black Pepper, Turmeric, Red Chilli Powder
Oil: I use coconut oil to brush the chips and air fryer basket. Traditionally, plantain chips are deep-fried in coconut oil. You can use vegetable or refined oil also.
Apart from these ingredients, you need water.
How To Make
Step 1) Make slits in the skin of the plantain. Remove the thick green skin. Wash it with running water ( image 1 ).
Step 2) Make thin slices of banana using a mandoline slicer or chips slicer ( image 2 ).
Step 3) In a large and wide bowl, add water, salt, and turmeric powder. Stir to combine. Soak banana slices in this water for 5 minutes ( image 3 ). This step helps remove the starch and give chips a salted flavour.
Step 4) Drain all the water. Arrange banana slices in a clean kitchen towel. Gently pat them dry ( image 4 ).
Step 5) Brush the air fryer basket with coconut oil. Preheat the air fryer to 150 degrees Celcius.
Step 6) Arrange banana slices in the air fryer basket without overlapping each other. Air Fry at 150 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes. Shaking the basket once or twice during cooking time.
Step 7) Once the chips are ready, transfer them to a bowl immediately while they are hot. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and red chilli powder. Toss them in the seasoning.
Air Fryer Banana Chips are ready to enjoy.
Banana Chips Flavours
Plain Salted: Some purists like their banana chips only seasoned with salt. And trust me, plain salted chips are my favourite flavour too.
Salt & Pepper: Plantain Chips with a hint of black pepper tastes good too. The heat of pepper balances the sweetness of banana and coconut oil.
Spicy: You can make spicier chips by tossing them in salt, pepper, and a dash of red paprika or chilli powder.
Fusion Flavours: Add garlic powder, cheese powder, and onion powder for an infusion of modern flavours into your plantain chips.
Storage Suggestion
Like any other chips or munching snack, store banana chips in an air-tight container at room temperature. They remain fresh for 15 – 20 days. However, the taste of chips slowly changes after that, and they become rancid. It is best to make them in small batches to be consumed within a week or two.
Keep them away from moisture, and damp, humid places. You can pack plantain chips in a ziplock bag for travelling or school.
More Air Fryer Snack Recipes
- Aloo Tikki
- Pasta Chips
- Potato Chips
- Karela Chips
- Malai Broccoli
- Crispy Chickpeas
- Sweet Potato Chaat
If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a comment and a rating. This helps us grow and reach other food lovers like you.
Ingredients
- ▢ 2 large size raw banana/plantain (kachha kela)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon salt
- ▢ 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
- ▢ 4 Cup water
- ▢ 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Ingredients For Seasoning
- ▢ 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- ▢ ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
Instructions
- Make slits in the skin of the plantain. Remove the thick green skin. Wash it with running water. Make sure the shape of the plantain remains intact.
- Make thin slices of banana using a mandoline slicer or chips slicer. You can do the same using a knife but ensure all pieces are thin and of equal size.
- In a large and wide bowl, add water, salt, and turmeric powder. Stir to combine. Soak banana slices in this water for 5 minutes. This step helps remove the starch and give chips a salted flavour.
- Drain all the water. Arrange banana slices in a clean kitchen towel. Gently pat them dry. Moist or wet slices won’t turn crisp properly while frying.
- Brush the air fryer basket with coconut oil. You can use vegetable or refined oil also instead of coconut oil. Preheat the air fryer to 150 degrees Celcius.
- Arrange banana slices in the air fryer basket without overlapping each other. Air Fry at 150 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes. Shaking the basket once or twice during cooking time.
- Once the chips are ready, transfer them to a bowl immediately while they are hot. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and red chilli powder. Toss them in the seasoning.
- Air Fryer Banana Chips are ready to enjoy.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition
We follow a strict NO SPAM Policy
Air Fryer Banana Chips Recipe
Equipment
- Mxing Bowl
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 2 large size raw banana/plantain (kachha kela)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
- 4 Cup water
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Ingredients For Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
Instructions
- Make slits in the skin of the plantain. Remove the thick green skin. Wash it with running water. Make sure the shape of the plantain remains intact.
- Make thin slices of banana using a mandoline slicer or chips slicer. You can do the same using a knife but ensure all pieces are thin and of equal size.
- In a large and wide bowl, add water, salt, and turmeric powder. Stir to combine. Soak banana slices in this water for 5 minutes. This step helps remove the starch and give chips a salted flavour.
- Drain all the water. Arrange banana slices in a clean kitchen towel. Gently pat them dry. Moist or wet slices won’t turn crisp properly while frying.
- Brush the air fryer basket with coconut oil. You can use vegetable or refined oil also instead of coconut oil. Preheat the air fryer to 150 degrees Celcius.
- Arrange banana slices in the air fryer basket without overlapping each other. Air Fry at 150 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes. Shaking the basket once or twice during cooking time.
- Once the chips are ready, transfer them to a bowl immediately while they are hot. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and red chilli powder. Toss them in the seasoning.
- Air Fryer Banana Chips are ready to enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Sprout Salad is a healthy salad with moong bean sprouts and vegetables. I am sharing tips on how to make sprouts from scratch, along with an Indian-style sprout salad recipe. Be sure to watch the video!
What are Sprouts?
Sprouts are the newly germinated seeds or the tender roots of a legume grown following the sprouting process. The sprouting process turns lentils and legumes into living plants with more Vitamin C, B, and carotene. It also helps in the absorption of minerals.
Mung Bean Sprouts are the most common culinary sprouts used in Indian Cuisine. They are used to make a variety of Indian curries, salads, snacks, and other dishes.
You can add mung bean sprouts to buddha bowls, poke bowls, hearty soups, stir-fry noodles, or wholesome salads.
How To Make Mung Bean Sprouts
Sprouting at home may sound like a complex technique, which requires a lot of precision, but you’ll find it fun and extremely easy once you try it.
It’s so much joy seeing your little sprouts come to life and the longer sprouts grow, I feel more proud.
To make sprouts at home:
Wash Lentil: Clean, rinse and soak the mung beans (green moong dal) in filtered water for at least 6 hours. I usually prefer soaking them overnight (ref images 1 & 2). As you notice in images 3 & 4, the size of the beans increases after absorbing water.
Start Sprouting Process: Transfer the soaked lentil to a colander the following day. Let them sit for 15 minutes. This way, all the water is drained out of the legume.
Take a clean and dry muslin/cheesecloth or any breathable piece of cloth. Spread the drained mung beans in the muslin cloth, bring the corners together and tie them into a loose knot ( ref image 4 ) .
Start Sprouting Process: You can keep the cloth with sprouts in a bowl with a lid (ref image 5). Keep the bowl in a dry and dark place, such as an oven or microwave, undisturbed for 24 hours.
Each legume takes a different amount of time to sprout. For example, Mung Beans take 2 days, whereas chickpeas 3 – 4 days. During the summer season, mung bean sprouts are ready in 24 hours.
Every morning check the legumes for sprouting. If the legumes seem dry, spray them with freshwater to maintain the moisture content. Do not touch the sprouts with dirty hands or a spoon. Instead, use only clean, filtered water to wash or spray the sprouts.
Alternatively, instead of using a muslin cloth, you can directly put sprouts in a container with a tight-fitting lid.
How To Store
You can store mung bean sprouts for 3 days in the refrigerator. However, I do not recommend keeping them longer as they have a short shelf life, and spoiled sprouts can easily cause severe stomach infections.
How – Line a fridge container with a clean kitchen cloth, preferably cheese or muslin cloth. Arrange the sprouts over the cloth. Close the lid of the container. The kitchen towel will help absorb the excess moisture and increase the shelf life of the sprouts.
Moong Bean Sprout Salad
It is an easy Indian-style, gluten-free, vegan salad that only requires a few pantry staples.
Soak Sprouts: Add sprouts to a bowl. Pour hot water over the sprouts. Cover the bowl with a lid. Let sprouts sit in hot water for 5 minutes. Transfer to a colander. Allow to cool down. Mung Bean Sprouts have a slightly bitter taste.
The hot water soaking process helps in reducing the bitterness of the sprouts and also makes them easy to digest.
Vegetables: From fresh tomato and cucumber to green lettuce, carrot, you can add vegetables to the sprout salad. Add pomegranate, parsley, cilantro, or any other fresh herb to make it more colourful.
Seasoning: This is an Indian-style sprout salad with the seasoning of salt, red chilli powder, lemon juice, olive oil, and cumin powder. Feel free to experiment with other seasoning flavours, such as oregano, fresh herbs, or spices.
Watch Sprout Salad Video
Whole green mung bean sprouts, brown chickpeas sprouts, white channa/chickpeas sprouts, mustard seeds sprouts, alfa alfa sprouts, and horse gram sprouts are the most commonly used lentils and legumes for making a salad. You can mix 2 – 3 varieties of sprouts in a single salad.
Usually, it is best to consume them for breakfast, brunch, or evening snacks so that the body gets enough time to digest them and absorb the nutrients before sleeping.
How to consume sprouts is a debatable issue. Some say it should be consumed raw, while others challenge the idea by saying raw sprouts encourage bacteria to grow, so it’s best if sprouts are cooked. You can prefer either way to consume sprouts. You can blanch, steam, or soak them in hot water before adding to a salad or soup.
More Salad Recipes
Smashed Cucumber Salad
Brown Chana Salad
Lobia Chaat Salad
Fresh Fruits Salad
Mixed Beans Salad
Kosambari Salad
Chickpea Salad
Lentil Salad
If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a comment and a rating. This helps us grow and reach other food lovers like you.
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 ½ Cup moong bean sprouts (moong dal sprouts)
- ▢ 2 Cup water, hot
- ▢ ¼ Cup onion, finely chopped
- ▢ ¼ Cup tomato (discard pulp and seeds), finely chopped
- ▢ ¼ Cup cucumber, finely chopped
- ▢ ¼ Cup carrot, shredded
- ▢ ¼ Cup parsley or cilantro, chopped
- ▢ ¼ Cup pomegranate
- ▢ 2 tablespoon roasted peanuts
For Salad Dressing
- ▢ ¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
- ▢ 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder (jeera powder)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
- ▢ 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon lemon or lime juice
Instructions
Blanch Sprouts
- Add sprouts to a bowl. Pour hot water over the sprouts. Cover the bowl with a lid. Let sprouts sit in hot water for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, transfer them to a colander. Allow to cool down completely before using for the salad.
Prepare Salad
- Combine sprouts, onion, tomato, cucumber, parsley, and carrot in a mixing bowl. Mix nicely.
- For the dressing, mix olive oil, cumin powder, salt, red chili powder, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. The salad dressing is ready!
- Pour dressing over the salad and mix gently.
- Add pomegranate, roasted peanuts, and fresh parsley. Toss the salad once again.
- Serve healthy sprout salad as a snack or a fulfilling meal.
Recipe Notes:
- If you are using store-bought sprouts for the salad, make sure to check the expiry date on the box.
- Mung Bean Sprouts have a slightly bitter taste. The hot water soaking process helps in reducing the bitterness of the sprouts and also makes them easy to digest.
- I prefer blanching the sprouts before adding them to the salad. You can add raw sprouts as well in the salad.
- It is best to consume the sprout salad immediately. Do not leave it at room temperature for more than 1 – 2 hours after adding seasoning. Or store it in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
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