Sweet Banana Thalipith - Easy to Make on Stove-top

Sweet Banana Thalipith - Easy to Make on Stove-top

Mash banana. Add whole wheat Chapati flour, baking powder, oil and Jaggery, along with a pinch of salt and crushed cloves and cardamom. Mix to make a very soft, almost batter-like dough. Spread on a greased heavy-bottom pan. Make small 'holes' in the dough, fill with a little oil, cover and cook on low heat till browned on the bottom (8-10 min). Loosen and flip to cook and brown the other side -7-8 min). Cut into quarters and serve hot, with butter/Ghee and some sweet and spicy lemon pickle. Enjoy with a cup of tea/coffee.

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Total Time 30

Course Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Indian, Maharashtrian

Servings people

Calories 214 kcal

Equipment

1 Heavy- bottom frying pan: non-stick preferred if non-stick not available, cast iron or heavy stainless steel OK. May need more oil to prevent sticking; if pan is not heavy-bottom, see how to improvise in Recipe directions.
1 Sturdy spatula/turner preferably flat, or with just a slight angle between the handle and the turner. Do NOT use turners with a sharp angle between the handle and the turner, or one with a "lip" around the edges -they tend to break the Thalipith while flipping. See pictures in Recipe directions.

Ingredients

1/3 cup Banana - mashed coarsely - leave a little texture about 1 medium banana: fully ripe, slightly over-ripe OK; measure the mashed banana very carefully - do not add extra- it makes the Thalipith become soggy!
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Chapati Flour if not available - check Recipe Notes for alternatives
1 tbsp Jaggery powder also called Gud / Gul; if using chunk Jaggery, cut carefully into very small pieces - then crumble to a coarse powder - big chunks will not dissolve quickly into the dough; if Jaggery is not available, see Recipe Notes for alternatives
1 tbsp Oil - divided (1 tsp in dough + 2 tsp for pan-frying) I use Peanut oil; any other mild tasting oil is OK; I do not recommend using extra-virgin olive oil or sesame oil in this recipe
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/8 tsp Clove powder
1/8 tsp Green cardamom seeds- freshly ground preferred
1 pinch Salt about 1/16 tsp or less
2-3 tbsp Water adjust as needed

Instructions

Peel slightly over-ripe banana - peel with several brown spots
Do not use banana with almost black peel.
Mash coarsely with your fingers - a little texture is good; do NOT mash till smooth
Grease a heavy-bottom frying pan (10 in /25 cm) with 1/2 tsp oil.
Note:
If you do not have a heavy-bottom pan, improvise: just place a griddle underneath your pan while cooking - now it is "heavy-bottom"!
Also, if you're not using a non-stick coated pan (cast iron, stainless steel), you will need to use a bit more oil- about 1 tsp to prevent the Thalipith from sticking to the pan while cooking.
Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, except the water.
Please measure the banana carefully, AVOID adding too much banana!
(See Recipe Notes for alternatives for Whole Wheat Chapati flour and Jaggery)
Mix quickly to make a soft dough - add 1-2 tbsp water, if needed, to adjust the consistency.
NOTE: Do NOT add extra mashed banana to make the dough softer! It will make the Thalipith become soggy!
Quickly transfer the fluffy dough to the greased frying pan.
The next part must be done as quickly as possible, to make sure the fluffiness from the baking powder is not "lost"!
Wet your fingers in a small bowl of water; with a light hand, quickly pat the dough into a 6-7 inch circle. The soft dough spreads very easily.
Note: Do NOT press down hard on the dough while spreading, or the Thalipith will not become fluffy.
Dip your forefinger in a bowl of water. Poke a "hole" in the middle, all the way to the bottom. Wiggle your finger a little, pushing the dough outward, to try to make the hole bigger. As soon as you remove your finger, the "hole" tends to slowly close upon itself.
Make 4 more "holes", evenly distributed around the Thalipith.
Place on the stove and drizzle a little oil into each of the "holes".
Cover and cook 1-2 min on Hi; then reduce heat to low-medium and continue to cook, undisturbed, for 8-10 min.
All stoves are slightly different, so you will need to be alert during this time, to make sure you are letting the Thalipith cook evenly without burning on the bottom.
If you start to notice a "burnt" smell, immediately remove the pan from the heat for a couple of min, turn the heat to the lowest setting and then continue to cook for the remaining time.
If you use a glass lid, you will begin to see water droplets condensing on the lid.
Remove the lid carefully, and keeping the lid tilted at an angle, move it around, hovering over the top of the Thalipith, so that the condensed water droplets drip back on to the Thalipith. The water will be absorbed instantly and helps keep the Thalipith moist.
Turn the heat off while you prepare to flip the Thalipith.
Use a long-handled spatula/turner that is either completely flat or has only a slight angle between the handle and the turner - see the accompanying pictures.
The Indian style flat turners, called Ulathna ("oo-luth-nuh" - Marathi), Palta ("Puh-l-taa" - Hindi) are typically made of metal and may scratch a non-stick pan - they would be fine to use with non-coated pans. Use non-stick safe utensils for non-stick pans. The picture shows turners made of nylon, wood and stainless steel.
Do NOT use a turner with a sharp angle - like the red one on the extreme right in the picture - it will likely cause the delicate Thalipith to break when you try to flip it.
Also do NOT use a turner with a "lip" around the edges - these too will likely make the Thalipith break while flipping.
Drizzle a little oil around the edges, a few drops into each "hole" and a few drops around the top of the Thalipith. This will help to release the Thalipith more easily.
Loosen the Thalipith from all around the edges by slipping the turner underneath the Thalipith - about an inch or so (2-3 cm)
Repeat, this time pushing the turner a bit further under the Thalipith. Finally, push it through to the very center. Shake the pan a little to see if it slides a bit. If not, gently probe again to loosen it where it might be stuck.
Once it has been completely released from the pan, push the turner past the center (about 2/3 of the way works well) - to get good leverage; lift it up just a little and quickly flip it.
Note: If it does cracks/break while flipping, no worries. Just push the pieces back against each other. The pieces won't look as pretty, but will still taste just as good!
Turn the heat back on - low-med setting; add a few drops of oil into the "holes" and around the sides, cover and cook for 8-10 min, till browned on the bottom. This side is usually much easier to flip to check for browning.
Transfer to a cutting board, cool slightly, and cut into quarters.
Serve piping hot with butter/Ghee and a spicy green chilli or lime/lemon pickle.
Enjoy!

Notes

Don't have Whole Wheat Chapati flour (also called Atta)?

The texture of the Thalipith is affected by the amount of gluten in the flour. Whole Wheat Chapati flour (Atta) typically has less gluten than American Whole Wheat flour. High gluten flour can make the Thalipith a bit tough and chewy, rather than soft and fluffy.

So: Instead of 1/2 cup Chapati flour (Atta), use one of the following combinations with American whole wheat flour. Each combination will obviously have its own flavor variation, different from Chapati Atta

- 6 tbsp American Whole Wheat flour + 2 tbsp oat flour
- 6 tbsp American Whole Wheat flour + 2 tbsp buckwheat flour
- 6 tbsp American Whole Wheat flour + 2 tbsp quinoa flour
- 6 tbsp American Whole Wheat flour + 2 tbsp almond flour
- 6 tbsp American Whole Wheat flour + 2 tbsp brown rice flour

Don't have Jaggery?

Now worries... you can use any other sugar you like/have. Naturally, each variety will impart its own unique flavor to the Thalipith.

Try one of these "dry" sugars (1:1 replacement for Jaggery powder):

refined/unrefined granulated sugar
light brown sugar
coconut sugar powder
muscovado powder
piloncillo powder
panela powder
etc.

However, if you want to use a "liquid" sugar, like molasses, honey, maple syrup, etc., this can affect the consistency of your dough: it might become too runny!

Definitely NOT what you want.
How to adjust?
- Don't use any water when you mix the dough - the liquid from the sweetener will probably be just enough to give you the consistency you need without adding any water. If it looks a bit dry, splash 1-2 tsp water as needed to make a very soft, fluffy dough.

I have not tried using artificial sweeteners, so I cannot comment on whether they're suitable, although I don't see any reason why they might not be. Again, it will be important to make sure the dough mixture is soft, but not runny.

Storing leftovers:

Refrigerator:

Store leftover pieces in a tight-lidded container, consume within 1-2 days.

To re-heat: Use one of the following methods:

Warm on a heated griddle/frying pan for about a min, until heated through thoroughly
Microwave for 10-12 seconds.

Freezer:

I do not recommend freezing this Thalipith - in my experience, it does not reheat well- becomes a bit soggy and/or brittle, just not very appealing, at least to me. I much prefer to make it fresh, since it is so very simple.

Nutrition

Calories: 214kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 4gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 233mgPotassium: 201mgFiber: 4gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 19IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 133mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Baking Powder, Banana, clove powder, flatbread, Green Cardamom powder, Jaggery powder, Maharashtrian food, Peanut oil, sweet snack, Thalipith, Whole Wheat Chapati flour, whole wheat flour

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