Monday, March 9, 2009

Low calorie Banana (Plantain) Chips and Potato Chips (can be Oil-free , Salt free ) using Microwave

I love my Microwave (not exactly mine, but our apartment's) ! and the person who invented it too ! That's what I can say after I made these easy, low-calorie munchies last week. I was surprised to find that the crispiness was no different than when fried in oil. You can even use a low calorie oil spray and a wee bit of salt to enhance the flavor. After making these I swore, I would never deep fry Banana or Potato Chips in oil in my kitchen. Let me share my excitement with you now:


Here is how I made it: Its easy, breezy tasty :)

Gadgets needed:

  • A microwave
  • A mandolin slicer (in India its called 'Chips maker' in some places, popular brands include 'Anjaly'). You can get a Mandolin slicer in US too, I got these from a Calphalone store, but we just bought it as a side purchase after buying a gorgeous Calphalone Infused Anodised Stir Fry Pan. The Mandolin cost just $10, but its worth buying as its a great addition to your kitchen gadgets. This one even had a handle to hold the food while slicing, thus giving extra safety.

If you don't have a 'Chips maker' , no worries, you have your knife to your aid. Cut slices as thinly as possible , make sure they are of equal length as it helps providing uniform heat in the microwave while 'they turn to' Chips ;)


Plantain chips



Seasoning:

Oil just a pinch or can be totally avoided
Salt, a very tiny pinch, or can be totally avoided.
Chilly powder, Asafoetida - a pinch

Note: I have used very little seasoning, as while using Microwave , you should be very careful while seasoning, if you are doing it before Microwaving it, as a pinch of seasoning has very very potent flavor while cooking in Microwave. Its best to add these after the Chips are done and when they are just out of the Microwave.

Vegetables that can be used : Potatoes (Preferably Potatoes good for frying purpose, else they may lose color and turn brown, but taste is intact though), Raw Banana (Plantain), Taro, Bitter gourd.

Potato Chips (don't mind the color as I used a Red Potato variety which I didn't find quiet good for frying because of the color they turn into, but taste was equally good)


Method:

Slice the vegetable into very thin uniform slices. Spread the slices on a Microwave safe flat bottom vessel, (I used my Silicon Baking Pan which is also Microwave safe). Arrange in such a way that no two slices overlap each other . A little overlapping here and there is alright if space is a constraint.

Microwave under high power for 4 minutes if you have filled the plate with the slices in every nook and corner , or 2-3 minutes if less slices are used. Keep checking in between. This can give you an approximate time for cooking these.
Tadaa ! Your chips are ready to savor !

This way of making chips has more of advantages than disadvantages I feel:

Advantages:

  • Control over the amount of oil, salt, or other seasoning
  • Less power , as I read somewhere that Microwave consumes less energy than other electric appliance.
  • Less fume and hence less cooling of the kitchen needed when compared to deep frying on a cooking range.
  • Less cleanup, and nil wastage of oil
  • No guilt feeling of storing the same oil for frying the next time, as no oil / very negligible amount of oil was used in microwave
The only thing I noticed was, if you have a small microwave/ small microwave vessel, then you can 'fry' only so much chips at a time. But then I don't think it matters so much.

Hope you all will like these.

I am sending these and one of my previous entries (look below this sentence) to (Microwave Easy Cooking)MEC-Savoury Snacks (started by Srivally of Cooking for all seasons) and hosted this time at Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes.

My previous entry participating in this event are:

Bittergourd Fritters

I am planning to post a Cake recipe next time, so wait and watch dear readers :) Till then, wave a 'bye bye' to the Winter (today it snowed here in Framingham, I think this might be the last snow of this winter) and welcome crisp Spring !

Love
RV

29 comments:

Cham said...

I cannot wait to try this chip Roopa. They re quiet super easy. Great entry!

FH said...

Very creative, I love Microwave too. Experimenting more and more in that to make dishes these days too. Chips looks lovely, sprinkle some chaat masala, it would be yummy! :)

Open Book said...

My first comment to you - simply innovative!!
Keep up the good work.

Usha said...

I have tried making potato chips in the microwave but never thought to try plantain chips in them. I loved this idea, will surely try. Thanks for sharing :-)

Priya Suresh said...

Roopa..wat a super crispy chips, will surely gonna try this...Thanks for sending to MEC...

Varsha Vipins said...

This is adipoli tto..:) Upperi thinnan kothiyavanu..i am trying this for Vishu..Thanks da..:)

Divya Kudua said...

Great recipe Roopa.Something which could be had without guilt..am sure gonna try out these.Thanks for the simple recipe!!

Ashwini said...

wow..lovely idea..Can't wait to try it..Looks so crispy and can have whole without any fear of calories..

Uma said...

wow, chips in MW? Nice idea Roopa! looks easy and yummy,

Shama Nagarajan said...

simple good ones

Finla said...

Wow really clever to make this in MW.
Looks yummtoo.

Seena said...

Will come here when I make this.. how are u, not planning an India trip? :)

Pavithra Kodical said...

You are so creative..Look crisp and yummy...

AnuSriram said...

Very innovative.. Lovely, crispy, crunchy chips..

Gayathri said...

wow very creative, pics are too good

Noor said...

I just love your blog, so glad I found it.

Cynthia said...

Thanks for the idea of making them in the microwave.

Jamie said...

Great looking chips Roopa! They look really crunchy!

Preety said...

these look awesome and not deep frying make this this extra special n guilt free to munch on:)

Shri said...

Wow!! Lovely chips.I love these,got to try this.Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Vishali said...

love the low calorie chips with banana. good one!

gluten free pammy said...

I make mine out of sweet potatoe!!! they are so yummy!!

chow and chatter said...

wow you used a microwave very cool

Rahin said...

thts nice , never tried chips in m/w

Anonymous said...

Im always game to try anything in the microwave........i have some raw bananas that are so going to transformed into chips........

needed to ask you one thing...........how do you manage to get your watermark in the middle of your pictures......what software are you using to water mark your pictures??????///////

Claudia said...

Now that's something new for me - in the microwave. What a grand idea! Looks delicious.

Sum Raj said...

simple and healthy chips..

vandana rajesh said...

Great microwave special..love the idea of taking away all the calories from the fav chips and enjoying them without any guilt.

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Wow chips look very crisp and tasty... My mom used to soak them in cold water for sometime... This indeed is a healthy version... My first visit here... Shall drop in for more...

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