Baked Kelewele (Spicy Plantain Chops)

Kelewele was one of the defining foods of my childhood. I remember my uncle will bring some with him every time he came to visit our family, and they were literally gone within 3 minutes. It was a popular night time snack sold across the city of Accra along with other small chops. You could also find it at roadside restaurants or even party spot.

What defined kelewele was the sweetness of the plantain mixed with a peppery ginger sauce. The final product was paired with roasted groundnuts (another variety of peanut). Although very tasty, these snacks were dripping with oil, which generally soaked through the newspapers they were sold in through to the plastic bag they were packaged in. It was always an oily mess. Nevertheless it was such a tasty snack and everyone always goes back for more.

Now in Canada, I do not have access to the authentic kelewele sold on the side of the street so I decided to make my own at home with the same spice and heat of the original with significantly less oil. This recipe still reminds me of Ghana but is not as detrimental to my waist line.

The Run Down

The recipe is essentially sweet ripe plantains with an onion and ginger spiced mix. The onion is crushed with the ginger and a variety of spices, then mixed in with all the plantains. The plantains are marinated for about 30 minutes to allow the flavours to really meld together then usually deep fried, but in our case, we are baking these. 

Before we start

Like every Ghanaian recipe, the spices are very customizable. You can add some in and take some out. I know people add cloves, others add spices like cardamon while others do not include either. The only essential component is the onion and ginger. These two are also customizable; if you like onions add more than I described, but if you are a bigger fan of ginger than onion add more ginger and less onion. Also I do use some Indigenous West African spices, if you are in Canada and interested in purchasing these spices, you can find them here: click this link (this is an affiliate link and I do receive a very small commission)

Now that we have that out of the way, let us make this tasty street snack.

Print Recipe

Snack – Ghanaian

By Afia – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes – Cooking Time: 25 minutes – Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 3 ripe plantains: you want them ripe with lots of black spot but you do not want them too soft
• 1 thump of ginger (~an inch long)
• 1/3 medium red onion (red is sweeter and best)
• 1 tsp black peppercorn+
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper+
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika+
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt (add more or less depending on your preference)
• 3 calabash nutmeg (ediaba/ehuru): deshelled*
• 5 grains of selim (hwentia/uda)*
• 1 tbsp coconut oil melted

Instructions

1

Grind up the dry spices in a mortar and pestle then set aside

2

Mash up the onion and ginger in the pestle

3

Combine the onion and ginger paste with the dry spices and salt. Mix everything very well together.

4

Wash, peel and chop the plantains into bite size pieces. To do this cut it in half along the seed line. Then cut along the seed line again till it looks like four sticks from each plantain. Cut pieces diagonally for bite size pieces.

5

Mix the spice blend and plantains and set aside for at least 30 mins. I would mix in the spices slowly till all the plantains are well coated. You may or may not need all of the spice blend so be cautious not to over season the plantains. If you do have some left over, you can save it and add it to a sauce or a curry.

6

After marinating, mix the plantains with the melted coconut oil and place on a lined tray (I use a silicon mat because it is more eco-friendly and non stick, but parchment is a great alternative).

7

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 425 F. Check on the plantains just to make sure they are not burning. You do not have to flip them because if they are really soft, they will lose their shape and become mushy.

8

Once the time is up, serve with salted peanuts for a sweet and savoury snack.

Notes

+ If you are not a fan of extra spicy food, you can omit either the cayenne or smoked paprika and compensate with equal amounts of black pepper. Or you can omit them completely and stick to the black pepper. *Note: if you do not have these spices, do not worry at all. You can make it without them and compensate with an extra 1/2 tsp of cloves and a pinch of nutmeg. It will still taste delicious.

Make sure to save the recipe on Pinterest for later