Kelewele

Ingredients

Plantain

• 3very ripe plantains

Spice

• 4cm fresh ginger
• 1 tspcayenne or ground dried chilli
• ½ tspgrated nutmeg
• 1 tspanise or cloves, ground
• 1small onion, optional
• 1 tspsalt
• 2 tbspwater

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

To serve

• roasted peanuts
• grilled fish or waakye

Directions

1. Use plantains that are yellow going to black, soft to the squeeze and heavily spotted.
2. The ripeness is not negotiable. Green or barely yellow plantain has no sugar in it, and the caramelised edges are the whole appeal of kelewele.
3. Peel and cut them into chunks or thick diagonal slices, about 3 cm.
4. Blend or pound the ginger, chilli, nutmeg, anise, onion and salt with the water into a thick, wet paste.
5. Fresh ginger, blended wet, not powdered. The wet paste clings to the plantain, and dry spice just falls off into the oil and burns.
6. Toss the plantain chunks in the paste until every face is coated, and leave them 10 minutes.
7. Ten minutes is enough. Left much longer the salt draws water out and the pieces go soggy before they reach the pan.
8. Heat the oil to about 175°C (345°F).
9. Fry the pieces in batches for 3 to 4 minutes, turning, until deep brown at the edges and dark where the sugar has caught.
10. Let them go darker than looks comfortable. Those near-black caramelised edges are exactly what you are after and pale kelewele is undercooked.
11. Do not crowd the pan, which drops the temperature and steams them.
12. Lift them out onto a rack and salt them lightly while hot.
13. Serve hot, with roasted peanuts scattered over, or alongside waakye or grilled fish.
14. It is sold from roadside pans across Ghana in the evenings, wrapped in newspaper with a handful of peanuts.

Technique

• It is sweet, hot and aromatic all at once, and the heat should be real rather than a hint.
• The peanuts alongside are standard and the contrast of soft and crunchy is deliberate.
• It does not keep and is eaten within minutes.

Substitutions

• Ground ginger with a splash of water if you have no fresh, at some cost.
• Very ripe cooking bananas if plantain is unavailable.

Variations

• With extra chilli, which is how it is usually sold.
• Baked or air-fried, which is lighter and misses the caramelisation.
• Served with beans, as red red.

History

Ginger and chili spiced fried plantain of Accra‘s night stalls, associated with Ga vendors who sell it from dusk beside grilled fish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kelewele?

Kelewele is a street food from Ghana: ripe plantain cubes fried with ginger, chili and nutmeg. Ginger and chili spiced fried plantain of Accra’s night stalls, associated with Ga vendors who sell it from dusk beside grilled fish.

How long does Kelewele take to make?

Kelewele takes 15 min of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kelewele?

Yes, within limits. Ground ginger with a splash of water if you have no fresh, at some cost. Very ripe cooking bananas if plantain is unavailable.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kelewele?

The ripeness is not negotiable. Green or barely yellow plantain has no sugar in it, and the caramelised edges are the whole appeal of kelewele.