There’s something that always happens when we buy a bunch of plantains. I’ll like to share it with you because I’m sure that I’m not the only one who’s had this experience. So, every time we buy a bunch of plantains, I become a monitoring spirit. Morning and evening, you’ll see me moving fiam to the kitchen store to see if some of the plantains are ripe so that I can use them to make food. For days, sometimes even a week, my trips will yield no fruit. Then, one day, I’ll come for my usual inspection and what do I see? Nearly the entire bunch is ripe. E go be like something wey dem jazz. That’s how I’ll start looking for interesting ways to incorporate plantain into our daily meals. But last last, we will eat plantain till it grows on our heads. Lol.
Kelewe is one interesting way of cooking plantain. It’s simply spicy fried plantain. It’s easy to prepare. It’s super tasty. It can serve as breakfast, snack or school lunch. Children and adults alike love it.
Ingredients
3 Ripe Plantains
An Onion Bulb
An Inch of Ginger Root
Fresh Pepper to taste
Salt
Nutmeg (Optional)
Method of Preparation
Peel the plantain and cut them into bite-sized cubes. Set aside for later use. Peel the onion bulb and clean the ginger and pepper. Put the ingredients in a clean blender. Add a little water and blend smoothly. Pour the blended mix over the plantain cubes. Add nutmeg, salt and one tablespoon of vegetable oil. Mix everything together; do your best to ensure that each cube of plantain gets some of that spice mix anointing. Lol. When you’re done, set the bowl aside for later use.
Now, put some vegetable oil in the frying pan and heat it up. Let me mention here that the temperature of the oil should be just right. It should be hot but not too hot. If it’s too hot, the plantains will burn without cooking. If it’s not hot enough, the plantains will become oil logged. You can determine if your oil is at the right temperature by conducting a quick heat test. Simply put the end of a wooden spoon in the oil. If bubbles form around the wood and start to float up, the oil is ready for frying.
Scoop the plantain into the frying pan. Bear in mind that the plantains need room to fry. So, do not overfill the frying pan or the plantains will not brown evenly. If the plantains cannot be fried at once, please fry them in batches. This is an excellent time to mention that Kelewe burns easily. So you need to monitor it closely and turn it at intervals till it’s golden brown on both sides; it will take about six to ten minutes to achieve this. Scoop the hot, yummy Kelewe into a paper-lined sieve.
Serve and enjoy with fresh juice, soft drink, or hot tea. But if you want to have a lazy day at home, enjoy this food with pap or custard and you will go back to sleep within thirty minutes. Lol.
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