One of Kerala’s enduring gifts to the world is banana chips or kaya varuthathu or upperi as it is known in different parts of the State. It tops the list which has appam, avial and fish curry. Today, there are also tapioca, beetroot, potato, sweet potato, and colocasia, but it is banana chips that most people ask that friend, family or colleague to bring back from Kerala. These make for the best sort of edible souvenirs!
One chips, many varieties
Unlike in the past when there was just the plain, salted variety, today there are several options: sweet (made from ripe bananas), spiced, pepper-coated and even peri-peri and tomato flavoured, like potato chips. The winner, cliched as it may sound, is the good old salted crisp, golden chips, says I Muralindranath, one of the proprietors of Malabar Chips, which has been making chips for the past 43-odd years. It is one of the older chips shops in the city. “We have the classics: the salted, thicker ones in which the plantain discs are cut into four, and sharkaraperatti (jaggery coated).” The latter are especially in demand during Onam.
Operating out of a single outlet near Ernakulam South railway station, it was started by four friends who came to the city from Kozhikode. Malabar Chips is on the must-go list of most Kochiites.
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Jackfruit chips
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Breadfruit chips
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Ripe banana chips
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Spiced banana chips
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Pepper banana chips
“When we came to Kochi all those years ago, we started making chips which we supplied to a bakery. After a while, we started our own shop, and here we are! What makes our chips a bestseller is that we make them differently,” says Muralindranath.
Unlike most shops where the plantains are sliced right into the boiling oil, at Malabar Chips, the slices are soaked in water to remove the sap before being fried in coconut oil. It is the price of the coconut oil that decides the price of the banana chips. “A kilogram of chips costs ₹460 today; we fry our chips only in coconut oil,” he adds.
Meanwhile, at Varavukada, a chips shop in Kadavanthra, round slivers of raw banana are slipped into boiling hot oil in a large cauldron outside the store. Kaaya varuthathathu (raw banana chips) is the main attraction and the bestseller at the shop, which also boasts a variety of fried snacks. The brand from Wayanad set up business in Kochi 14 years ago and opened a store on Amman Kovil Road, selling their signature banana chips.
Booming market
“It was received well and we started doing good business. In 14 years, we expanded, opening two more outlets — in Kadavanthra (opened in 2023) and Vyttila,” says Abdurahman V, the founder of Varavukada. “Kochi seemed like the ideal market to start the business; it had potential. It gets a number of tourists. And after a decade of selling here, our business has grown. Today we ship to different parts of the country,” he says. The brand is on e-commerce platforms and ships abroad as well. “Most of our regular customers are outside Kerala,” says Abdurahman.
The spiced banana chips varieties
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
The brand sells sweets and cakes as well, all prepared in a central kitchen at Pulleppady. While the chips are made fresh in the smaller outlets, the sweets and other baked goods are prepared at the central kitchen.
Since no preservatives are added, the shelf-life is not more than a month. “We use vegetable and coconut oil to fry the chips,” says Abdurahman. The shelves at the shop are lined with packets of banana chips, both raw and ripe, colocasia, tapioca, beetroot, potato and sweet potato chips. “We also have specialties such as snakegourd, bittergourd and breadfruit chips,” adds Abdurahman. All the raw materials are sourced locally.
The outlets do brisk business during the Sabarimala season, apart from Onam.
Malabar Chips recently opened a branch at Armaan Collective in Mattancherry. “The city is celebrating the Biennale, so we wanted to be at a new location and what better place than where it is happening. We have been getting tourists — foreigners and Indians — who are buying a kilogram or two. And most of them are the plain salted ones because they are the original,” signs of Muralindranath.
If you haven’t picked up your packets of chips, don’t worry. There are several stores on the way to the airport at Aluva — Kerala Chips Centre and 5 Star HOT Chips and Spice.
Malabar Chips is at Armaan Collective and near the Ernakulam South railway station; Varavukada has branches at Vyttila and Kadavanthara. The chips can be ordered online too at varavukada.com, malabarchips.com and amazon.in
(With inputs from Anasuya Menon)
Published – January 24, 2026 03:17 pm IST
