King of Kelewele: Recipe #53

Today is my son-in-law's first official Father's Day (his Kumiwah is 3+ months old), and this post is dedicated to him. 

I have frequently mentioned my own love of kelewele, a wonderful Ghanaian snack. Koranteng, however,  is a a real kelewele connoisseur. The international wedding quilt we assembled for him and Abena in 2005 included a square from Ghana featuring his beloved plantain favorite. He also has a photo online from a Christmas feast at home in Ghana in 2009 that prominently displays some cubes of kelewele.

Whenever one  stops by his apartment in Berkeley, one always finds several plantains in various stages of ripening until he deigns them properly ready to be transformed. He expertly peels and slices the plantains, then portions out some of his  treasured "Maame's" kelewele spice mix prepared in large batches for him in Ghana, and brought periodically to California by visiting family members.

While I have not attempted to obtain the exact ingredients in "Maame's" special mixture, combining my taste experiences enjoying it with my time in Barbara Baeta's test kitchen in Ghana, I'm developing my own version. I happen to really like fresh ginger, plus I've borrowed Maame's use of fresh habenero peppers to replace dried red pepper, and I've used onion generously as well (too generously for the first unsuccessful batch). Feel free to tone down or even omit spices if you prefer a milder or simpler version.

First, assemble the ingredients. If you look carefully at the photo of the ingredients taken in Ghana when I first made kelewele, you'll see in the very center of the plate a small oval-shaped spice. I'm not sure what that was as I did not include it in my notes, but have decided to try using a little nutmeg to flavor the spice mixture, along with salt, aniseed, cloves, ginger, onion, red pepper, and hewntia.

So, here is Fran's  gourmet version of kelewele. 

Well, it's several testing hours later, and I still only have an in-progress working recipe. I thought it would be easy, but you know, it seldom is on the first try. My initial attempt had way too much onion, not enough aniseed or ginger. Plus, I did it all by hand: ground the hard spices in a marble mortar and pestle, finely grated the onion and ginger by hand, and blended the fresh hot pepper coarsely in an electric blender, then finished it in the marble mortar. Lots of work, but as soon as I coated the ripe plantain and put it in the deep fryer, I knew I had too much onion.

For the second effort, I adjusted amounts and coasrely chopped the ginger and onion and broke the hwentia into pieces, then simply ground everything in an electric blender with a couple of tablespoons of water (using an inverted glass canning jar since I learned that they'll fit on most blenders). Better, but when I coated the plantain before frying it, the coating was stringy and stuck in clumps onto the cut-up plantain.

The 3rd time I squeezed out the coarse fibers and just used some of the liquid to coat the plantains, and this seemed to work best.

However, on top of everything else, part of the secret in making good kelewele is having the plantains ripe enough, so the sweetness comes through and they kind of carmellize on the outside. It's hard to come by properly ripened plantains in central Pennsylvania, and I had to use some that were not quite ready, so that added to the difficulty.

 Recipe #53: Classic Kelewele (spicy fried  ripe plantain cubes)

However, here are my step-by-step directions to date. Feel free to give me any feedback on the recipe.

1. Assemble ingredients:  You'll need several ounces of fresh ginger (say, 2 to 4 oz), a teaspoon of anise seed, about 1/4 teaspoon salt (or more to taste), 1 teaspoon whole cloves, about 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional), about 3 or 4 sticks hwentia (to be purchased online or at a West African grocery), part of a yellow or red onion (to get a couple of tablespoons), and a fresh red habanero or dried red pepper flakes or ground red pepper, to taste (I'd start with about half a teaspoon and add more the spicier you like it), 4 slightly over-ripe plantains (will be somewhat black and soft, but not completely).

2. The easiest way to make the seasoning mixture is to grind the ingredients together (except for the plantains!): peel and chop a little onion coarsely (to get a couple of tablespoons), peel and coarsely chop a few ounces of fresh ginger (I don't recommend using dried ground ginger), some red pepper, fresh or dried as explained above (if using fresh, cut off the top and make sure the seeds are not black; for a milder flavor, remove the seeds and membranes before adding to the blender, using a small container like a canning jar (it's easier to blend them in a smaller container), 3 or 4 broken sticks of hwentia (adds a spicy, peppery, but not hot, flavor), and 2 or 3 tablespoons of water. You may need to remove the jar and shake it then replace it a few times to blend the seasonings completely.If you  use a regular blender containert, you'll probably need to stop several times and use a rubber spatula to push the mixture down as you blend it.

Pour the seasoning mixture into a small bowl and let it sit while you peel and cut the plantains.As I mentioned, the third time I made this, I squeezed out the fibrous strings and used mostly the seasoned liquid left behind (Koranteng, or any other kelewele experts, if you're reading this, maybe you can comment on how much of the spice mixture to use for about 4 plantains? Also, do you ever have problems with clumping of the seasonings?)

Prepare the plantains. I usually cut off each end, then make a slit along one side to peel the plantain, cut the plantain in half lengthwise, the cut each half as below.

Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the seasoning mixture over the plantains and stir well to coat. Let them sit for several minutes while you heat up oil in a deep fryer or heavy-bottomed pan to about  350 degrees F. Make sure the oil will not bubble over when you begin adding the plantains. Use a long-handled slotted spoon (my son-in-law has a fancy deep-fryer with a lid; I just use a simple deep-fryer without a basket. A frying pan or other pan would also work). Cook them in several batches, stirring to make sure they do not stick together.

When they are nicely browned on all sides, remove and drain them on paper towels. Plantains can be eaten with bean stew, but I prefer them with dry roasted peanuts.They're best eaten immediately or soon after cooking.

And again, Koranteng: Happy Daddy's Day. I'll bet Kumiwah grows up loving kelewele, too.

P.S. Here's a photo taken a few weeks ago while I was in Berkeley of one of the glorious kelewele batches Koranteng prepared for us:

       

Some ingredients: millet stalks, fonio, hwentia (udah-urhirhe), akpe, etc.

While I was in California, my daughter and son-in-law took me to their favorite African food store, Specialty Foods, Inc. at 535 8th St., Oakland. I took the opportunity to stock up on some items unavailable locally in central Pennsylvania. Some of them had Nigerian? or slightly differently spelled names: millet stalks (labeled watche leaves), or hwentia (labeled udah-urhirhe), and bambara beans (called bambala beans, African yellow soy beans), along with some smoked herring powder (I'm thinking of making some shito before Thanksgiving), some Ethiopian berbere, and some fonio (aka acha), a tiny, grain, one of those "lost crops of Africa" that is one of the oldest grains of Africa. I haven't had that since I was at the Tamale Institute of Cross-Cultural Studies (TICCS) several years ago. It makes a tasty, very nutritious porridge.

The millet stalks are what traditionally give waakye (rice and beans) its characteristic color. In the U.S. we generally substitute baking soda, as in the recipes linked to above.

By the way, can anyone tell me another name for the Ivorian? spice "akpe"? And information on its use? Thank you.

Tanzanian Breakfast at TEDGLOBAL

That first morning at TEDGLOBAL I went to breakfast at the lovely Serena Mountain Village resort where I was booked for the 4 days of the conference. Several safari tour groups stayed there during the same time. The breakfast buffet was long and plentiful, filled with fresh tropical fruits, cold cereal and granola, croissants, breads and pastries, oatmeal, and fruit juices. Pots of hot coffee and tea were brought to the tables.

I respectfully requested to speak to the sous chef, Alex Babu. When he came from the kitchen, I explained that this was my first visit to Tanzania, and how could I get a traditional Tanzanian breakfast. He looked puzzled, and asked what I meant. “I want to eat what you eat for breakfast,” I explained. His face brightened and he promised to do so the next morning. That day I was treated to the best breakfast I had at the conference: a mild, creamy sorghum porridge eaten with fresh whole-milk yoghurt and sugar, and in place of toast, freshly cooked root vegetables: ripe plantain spears, chunks of a wonderful white sweet potato, and what we call cocoyam (taro) in Ghana.

I suggested that perhaps they could try serving the porridge sometimes alongside the standard western fare. The following day I noticed sorghum porridge had replaced the oatmeal. It also appeared, alas, that I was the first person to help myself to it. However, later at the conference, an American woman who had overheard my conversation with Alex the day before, came up and thanked me for asking them to serve the porridge, which she had tried and found excellent.

En route to the conference, I spent a few days in Ghana with a Ghanaian friend who promptly offered me corn flakes, bread and tea my first morning at her home. When I asked about koko (millet/corn porridge), and koose (fried cowpea fritters), she promptly honored my request. The fresh millet porridge with a stunning bite of ginger, sugar, cloves and hwentia, mixed with a little evaporated milk, along with the satisfying koose (a.k.a. accra, akara, akla, bean balls, kosai, kose, and koosé) was my favorite breakfast from that trip. The next day I had a slightly fermented corn version that was also delightful. Served alongside the wonderful mangos in season (and I prefer the traditional small juicy yellow ones), I had to stop myself from doing what my family calls "the happy dance."


It still baffles me why Africans so often replace their hearty, tasty, and healthy traditional breakfast meals with “modern, western” choices. And it saddens me to find them catering to tourists with “continental” breakfasts when they have so much more to offer to non-Africans.

I’ll continue making observations from the conference (which, despite the triteness and inadequacy of the words), was truly astounding with its potential to empower people to change lives. I was amazed and overwhelmed to find such support and enthusiasm for my campaign to restore to the continent a proper respect for and appreciation of its culinary heritage and contributions. I owe Emeka Okafor and the sponsors of the TED fellowships a great debt I’ll do my best to repay.

Kelewele: My favorite Ghanaian Snack

I'm in the midst of packing to spend a year in Brazil and Ghana but just caught sight of a bag of Nina International's "All Natural UDA Hwentia," sitting on my desk. It made me wish for some fresh kelewele, one of my all-time favorite snack foods from Ghana. Western cookbooks generally describe kelewele as something like "spicy fried plantain cubes," but that is like calling a sunset "beautiful." All the recipes I've seen in Western cookbooks are anemic versions of the best kelewele as it's prepared in Ghana. First of all, Western versions only call for salt, ginger, and dried red pepper, but in Ghana in addition to grinding fresh ginger and onion, they also commonly pound and add sekoni (aniseed), hwentia (a kind of long black stick I've yet to name botanically. Can anyone help me out?), and cloves. The plantain should be very ripe and sweet, and nicely coated with the mixture before it is deep-fried. The plantain is generally cut on a diagonal rather than into a straight cube. Kelewele tastes superb accompanied with dry roasted peanuts. The sweet, spicy, and chewy plantain is a perfect counter to the mild crunchy/creamy flavor and texture of the peanuts. Both go well with an ice cold beer or drink like ginger beer or bissap. Nina International distributes many West African foods through its office in Maryland (PO Box 6566, Hyatsville, MD 20789). More information on suppliers is available at African Food Stores
Rest assured, Barbara Baeta and I will include an authentic recipe for gourmet kelewele in our upcoming book.