I remember when I was a kid, my mom usually cooked Maruya for us. We eat it for breakfast or during afternoon snack (meryenda). A simple banana and batter recipe but it’s super tasty and really memorable for me.

Here in New Zealand or for other countries, they call it banana fritter. I didn’t like it at first as they use yellow dessert banana and not the plantain (saba) that we usually have in the Philippines. For me, the banana fritter here is too mushy to eat. Our plantain (saba) on the other hand is hard and not too sweet when cooked as Maruya.

My kids are growing bigger, taller and older… I didn’t even notice until one day, they kept on asking for food every hour.  They’ll ask me to make a desert or they’ll go straight to the pantry and look for something to eat, and this is just right after we ate one full meal. At first, I thought maybe their tummies need to be checked for worms as they’re always hungry – I’m not exaggerating here! I think they need more food than ever.

It’s the 30th of January, there’s still one more day until payday, meaning… our pantry is empty. Literally, there’s only half loaf of bread, stick-o container which has 5 stick-o’s in it, and Kellog’s coco pops and all we have left is bananas on the counter. I always have flour, so making Maruya today is not a problem.

Maruya  is traditionally made with plantain (saba) dipped thinly on batter and deep fried until golden brown and crispy. My Mom called it sinapot as my Mom grew up in Bicol. For some they call it, baduya.

Here are the INGREDIENTS for making Maruya:

1 cup all purpose or plain flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup fresh milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup oil (I used coconut oil for this recipe)
5 to 6 ripe but firm saba bananas, peeled and sliced lengthwise into about ¼ inch-thick or you could use dessert bananas too.

1/4 cup sugar for sprinkling

PROCEDURE:

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, ¼ cup of sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk and butter until blended.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir until just moistened. DO NOT OVERMIX.
4. Heat the frying pan, put oil over medium heat.
5. Dip banana slices into batter to fully coat and fry in hot oil. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden and crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.
6. Dust maruya with the remaining sugar. Serve warm.
7. Serve and enjoy with family and friends!

NOTE: So I think I got a little carried away with sugar (as seen on photo). Don’t make the same mistake as I did. We don’t want to be diabetic here. Just a little sugar is enough. You can also serve with ice cream or whipped cream and some chocolate syrup!