Platanos Maduros (Sweet Fried Plantain)

I happened to be watching the movie Chef yesterday and was so taken up by chef Casper and his food truck Cubanos. Every time Casper had his food truck stationed and his menu written on the chalk board, I was so drooling over it, especially the Platanos Maduros, that I immediately searched for authentic Cuban recipes and tried it out immediately from tasteofcuba.com. The plantain that is so easily available in Cuba is none other our Nendran or Yetham (Nendran is one of the four cultivars of banana that is known as plantain!) from the Kanyakumari - Kerala belt. And it was so easy to make! 

Ingredients

• 2 ripe plantains (Nendran) (the more ripe and black the better - as in the second picture)
• Oil for frying

Preparation

• Cur off the edges, peel the bananas and slice them diagonally about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick.
• Heat oil in a pan to about 350 degree F (the oil must sizzle when a drop of water is added.
• Drop the slices in the oil and fry till the bottom is golden and then turn them over and fry till the top side is golden. The edges must be slightly darker and caramelized.

Notes

• You could fry them a little longer so that the sides are darker than golden brown. They actually taste much sweeter and more delicious than the golden brown ones as the sugars caramelize very well.