Bourbon Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies

today’s recipe is our family favorite – Pazham Pori. This is a speciality dish from Kerala and I have had the luxury of having it at some of my Malayalee friends’ places. Although it is super simple to make, it tastes great – especially with a hot cup of chaaya/tea :) My most memorable incident regarding this recipe is during our honeymoon. We were staying in a boat house in Allepey and were getting royal treatment! The beautiful backwaters, coconut trees, rising and falling sun, a number of sea birds and a lot of beautiful boat houses. We literally had nothing to do but to sit back and relax. Our boat house was managed by three men who were very friendly. They cooked some great food and pazham pori was one of it. On evening, when we were asked if we would like some tea and snacks, we readily agreed and we were treated with some golden fried banana fritters and hot tea.

These fritters are specifically made with a special type of banana called “Nendram” which has orangish yellow fruit and is a little firm. It withstands heat and on cooking does not go into a mush. The mild sweetness from banana and crispy outer coating makes this one of the best snacks to serve along with tea. I make this quite often, when I can find these variety of bananas. I have not tried it with any other banana variety, do let me know if you have ever tried.