If you’ve ever visited Accra, or Ghana in general, you’re probably familiar with Kelewele!
Kelewele is simply fried plantains seasoned with a variety of spices and eaten with a stew or on its own.
Traditional Ghanaian Kelewele fried plantains, on the other hand, are in a class by themselves. I’ve always enjoyed buying them from street sellers across the city, to the point that I learnt how to make them myself!Kelewele is a simple dish to prepare. We’re just cutting, seasoning, and cooking in my recipe below.
Here is a step to show you how.
Ingredients
- 1/4 ginger
- 1/2 hot peppers
- 1 pinch salt or seasons salt
- 1 cup oil
- 3 plantains
- 6 Ripe Plantains
- 1/2 piece Raw Ginger
- 1/2 White Onion
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tsp Anise Seed
- Oil for frying
This is an easy step to follow
Step 1,
Cut a shallow line down the length of the plantain with a sharp knife and peel back the skin.
Step 2,
Chop the plantain into small cubes of about 1 inch size.
Step 3
Grate the ginger into a large bowl then add in chopped garlic and chopped onions.
Step 4,
Now in the bowl blend in your cayenne pepper, anise seed, nutmeg and salt. Mix well.
Step 5,
After that, toss in the plantain cubes to coat them in the spice mixture. Allow 30 minutes for resting.
Step 6,
In a deep skillet, add enough oil to slightly submerge the plantains and heat to 350 degrees F.
Step 7,
Separate the plantain into batches so that each lot can fry without touching one another. This is crucial to achieving the right texture.
Step 8,
Put one batch in the skillet at a time to brown, flipping once throughout the process. Each batch should take roughly 5 minutes.
Step 9,
Remove the plantains from the pan with a strainer ladle and place them on a dish lined with paper towels.
Final step,
Lightly dab the plantains with paper towels to soak up any excess oil and serve immediately.
Kewele are a terrific snack on their own, but they also work well as a side dish with a stew or casserole as a main entrée.
