A few years ago back in my hometown in South Sulawesi, I discovered about Sanggara Janda, a twice-fried plantain. In local dialect, sanggara janda literally means fried widow. I’m not sure where this name come from.
In Indonesia fried banana is a favourite snack for afternoon tea or even for breakfast, but this twice-fried plantain is not as popular as their sibling. Unlike my mom who’s crazy about banana and plantain, at first I’m a bit sceptical about this dish. But after I tried it this crispy plantain hook me up.
Twice-Fried Plantain with Sambal
Ingredients
Twice fried plantain
- 3 unripe plantains
- 1 cup coconut oil
- Sea salt to taste
Sambal
- 7 bird’s eye chillies
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 shallots
- 1 medium tomato,
- Coconut oil
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
Direction
- Sambal: Chop ginger, garlic and shallot and place in a mortar. Crushed the ingredients, add the chillies and a pinch of salt, keep pounding until you get a coarse paste. Add chopped tomatoes and crushed lightly.
- Add 1 to 2 tablespoon coconut oil, then add the chilli mixture to the pan. Turn on the heat, cook the sambal mixture over medium-high heat. Add the sugar, cook over medium heat for 7 minutes or until the mixture caramelized, stirring occasionally.
- Remove sambal from the heat and set aside.
- Twice fried plantain: Peel plantains and cut into 1 to 1.5 inch thick.
- In a large deep skillet heat coconut oil over moderate heat. Once the coconut oil begins to sizzle, add the plantains to the skillet. Fry plantains in batches until just golden and tender.
- Remove plantains from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Flatten the plantains with the wooden spoon or metal spatula.
- Heat the oil again and fry flattened plantains in batches, for about 3 minutes or until golden and crisp. Turn off the heat, remove fried plantains from skillet and drain on paper towels.
- Serves immediately with sambal.
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