4 months ago
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One of Kerala’s enduring gifts to the satellite is banana chips oregon kaya varuthathu or upperi as it is known successful antithetic parts of the State. It tops the database which has appam, avial and food curry. Today, determination are besides tapioca, beetroot, potato, saccharine potato, and colocasia, but it is banana chips that astir radical inquire that friend, household oregon workfellow to bring backmost from Kerala. These marque for the champion benignant of edible souvenirs!
One chips, galore varieties
Unlike successful the past erstwhile determination was conscionable the plain, salted variety, contiguous determination are respective options: saccharine (made from ripe bananas), spiced, pepper-coated and adjacent peri-peri and herb flavoured, similar murphy chips. The winner, cliched arsenic it whitethorn sound, is the bully aged salted crisp, aureate chips, says I Muralindranath, 1 of the proprietors of Malabar Chips, which has been making chips for the past 43-odd years. It is 1 of the older chips shops successful the city. “We person the classics: the salted, thicker ones successful which the plantain discs are chopped into four, and sharkaraperatti (jaggery coated).” The second are particularly successful request during Onam.
Operating retired of a azygous outlet adjacent Ernakulam South railway station, it was started by 4 friends who came to the metropolis from Kozhikode. Malabar Chips is connected the must-go database of astir Kochiites.
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- Jackfruit chips
- Breadfruit chips
- Ripe banana chips
- Spiced banana chips
- Pepper banana chips
“When we came to Kochi each those years ago, we started making chips which we supplied to a bakery. After a while, we started our ain shop, and present we are! What makes our chips a bestseller is that we marque them differently,” says Muralindranath.
Unlike astir shops wherever the plantains are sliced close into the boiling oil, astatine Malabar Chips, the slices are soaked successful h2o to region the sap earlier being fried successful coconut oil. It is the terms of the coconut lipid that decides the terms of the banana chips. “A kilogram of chips costs ₹460 today; we fry our chips lone successful coconut oil,” helium adds.
Meanwhile, astatine Varavukada, a chips store successful Kadavanthra, circular slivers of earthy banana are slipped into boiling blistery lipid successful a ample cauldron extracurricular the store. Kaaya varuthathathu (raw banana chips) is the main attraction and the bestseller astatine the shop, which besides boasts a assortment of fried snacks. The marque from Wayanad acceptable up concern successful Kochi 14 years agone and opened a store connected Amman Kovil Road, selling their signature banana chips.
Booming marketplace
“It was received good and we started doing bully business. In 14 years, we expanded, opening 2 much outlets — successful Kadavanthra (opened successful 2023) and Vyttila,” says Abdurahman V, the laminitis of Varavukada. “Kochi seemed similar the perfect marketplace to commencement the business; it had potential. It gets a fig of tourists. And aft a decennary of selling here, our concern has grown. Today we vessel to antithetic parts of the country,” helium says. The marque is connected e-commerce platforms and ships overseas arsenic well. “Most of our regular customers are extracurricular Kerala,” says Abdurahman.
The spiced banana chips varieties | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
The marque sells sweets and cakes arsenic well, each prepared successful a cardinal room astatine Pulleppady. While the chips are made caller successful the smaller outlets, the sweets and different baked goods are prepared astatine the cardinal kitchen.
Since nary preservatives are added, the shelf-life is not much than a month. “We usage rootlike and coconut lipid to fry the chips,” says Abdurahman. The shelves astatine the store are lined with packets of banana chips, some earthy and ripe, colocasia, tapioca, beetroot, murphy and saccharine murphy chips. “We besides person specialties specified arsenic snakegourd, bittergourd and breadfruit chips,” adds Abdurahman. All the earthy materials are sourced locally.
The outlets bash brisk concern during the Sabarimala season, isolated from Onam.
Malabar Chips precocious opened a subdivision astatine Armaan Collective successful Mattancherry. “The metropolis is celebrating the Biennale, truthful we wanted to beryllium astatine a caller determination and what amended spot than wherever it is happening. We person been getting tourists — foreigners and Indians — who are buying a kilogram oregon two. And astir of them are the plain salted ones due to the fact that they are the original,” signs of Muralindranath.
If you haven’t picked up your packets of chips, don’t worry. There are respective stores connected the mode to the airdrome astatine Aluva — Kerala Chips Centre and 5 Star HOT Chips and Spice.
Malabar Chips is astatine Armaan Collective and adjacent the Ernakulam South railway station; Varavukada has branches astatine Vyttila and Kadavanthara. The chips tin beryllium ordered online excessively astatine varavukada.com, malabarchips.com and amazon.in
(With inputs from Anasuya Menon)
