Category: Appertizers

Kelewele recipe – How to make Kelewele (Spicy fried plantain cubes)

How to make KeleWele (Kelewele recipe – Spicy fried plantain cubes)

Freshly Made Kelewele
Fried Spicy Plantains

Kelewele pronounced kele-wele is spicy plantain cubes seasoned with ginger, onions, cayenne pepper, and salt.

Spicy fried plantain cubes is a popular and favorite street food in Ghana made out of riped plantains, sold by vendors at night times.

Kelewele is sold at night times because it gets really hot in the day; the average temperature in Accra is about 87 degrees Fahrenheit or 30 degrees Celsius.

Plantains are not bananas although they may look like them.  Bananas are eaten raw 90 percent of the time. Plantains can also be eaten raw but that’s rare.

There was a popular joint in  Accra called Labone Junction Kelewele, I have to admit that was the best I’ve had until I perfected the art.

My parents made sure we knew it was a treat anytime we were taken there. So we will not request to go there on consecutive days.

Serve this great dish with your favorite African cuisines like Waakye or Jollof.

Here’s a kelewele recipe you will enjoy (see a video of this recipe below)

Kelewele
5 from 19 votes
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Kelewele

Is cubed spicy fried plantains fried in hot oil

Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine Tropical, West African
Keyword Kelewele
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 2 People

Ingredients

  • 3 Ripe Plantains
  • 1/2 Bulb Onion
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
  • Ginger
  • 5 Tsp Water
  • Canola Oil for deep frying

Instructions

  1. Cut the plantains in two and then chop them up into cubes

    Fresh Ripe Plantains

  2. Add your dry ingredients together and then blend your water, onions, and ginger. After blending mix all the ingredients.

    Spices

  3. Add the spices to the cubed plantains

    Plantain and SPices

  4. Deep fry your plantain mix in pre-heated oil between 15-20 minutes

Ghana Meat Pie Recipe: How to make Ghana Meat Pie

Ghana Meat Pie Recipe.

 

Meat Pie Straight outta the oven
Mouthwatering Meat Pie
Ready!
5 from 19 votes
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How to Make Ghana Meat Pie

Ghana Meat Pie Recipe

Meat Pie is a West African street food pastry, that is stuffed with meat. It can served as an appetizer at restaurants, parties, etc.

Course Appetizer
Cuisine West African
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 5 People
Calories 275 kcal

Ingredients

Crust

  • 2 Cups Unbleached Flour
  • 1 Cup Butter
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 1/2 Cup Really Cold Water
  • 1 Large Egg For quoting

Meat Pie Filling

  • 1 Pound Ground Turkey You can substitute it with ground beef, chicken breast or tuna
  • 1/2 Bulb Onion
  • 1 Tsp Cajun Seasoning You can substitute it Adobo seasoning or seasoned salt
  • 1.5 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 Fresh Tomato

Instructions

Crust

  1. Combine the crust ingredients: your flour, butter, salt and water in a large bowl

  2. mix and knead it until a dough forms

  3. Set aside in a freezer for 10 minutes

Filling

  1. Pour oil in a frying pan and put it on medium heat

  2. Add the meat and seasoning let it cook for 10 minutes

  3. Add your onions to meat and let it cook for another 5 minutes

  4. Add chopped tomato and let it simmer for 5 minutes

  5. After the filling is done, lightly flour a surface and roll the dough with a rolling pin. Cut a piece of the dough into a square or circle, you can choose to make it large or small. Add some meat to each pie and fold in half and seal it. Use a fork to seal the edges so the meat does not fall out.

    Pre-Baked Meat Pie

  6. Lastly, quote the pies with your egg wash so you get that golden brown look

Recipe Notes

Yummy Meat Pie
Meat pie after they come out of the oven.

 

This post contains affiliate links.

I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link.

Wow your guests with this beginner-friendly meat pie recipe from Ghana!

Meat pie is a popular West African pastry which is stuffed with meat. It is very similar to empanadas from Latin American countries.

People from the Carribean Islands also have their version regularly called patties.

You can buy meat pie from many street vendors in West African cities as a quick snack or for lunch especially for busy individuals. Meat pie brings back so many great memories.

Another good thing about meat pie is that they’re super easy to make.

I love to make them because my wife absolutely loves them and I know it always puts a smile on her face.

I remember just before we got married we a mini-fight which was my fault.

So I apologized and bought her some really delicious meat pie.

When we were growing up, my Mom would make it for special occasions like birthday celebrations, marriage ceremonies, Christmas and other holidays.

It did not matter how many meat pies she made, they were always all gone by the same day. This was always a bummer the next day when we realized we had no more meat pies to eat.

And the times when we did not get to eat meat pies at home we would go over to our neighbors’ house because their Mom was a baker. She made meat pies once a week. And if we found ourselves there at the right time we would get a piece or two.

Try making this delicious recipe for your guests to switch things around.

If you try this meat pie recipe and end up with delicious pies, don’t blame me!

Make sure to pair it with Sobolo for extra effect.

You can get good unbleached flour from Amazon.

PEANUT BUTTER SOUP

Groundnut Soup
Chicken Peanut Butter Soup

 

5 from 9 votes
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PEANUT BUTTER SOUP

Peanut butter soup or Groundnut soup is a soup made from peanuts and other ingredients. It is a staple African cuisine and also eaten in some parts of Asia.

Course Main Course
Cuisine West African
Keyword Peanut Butter Soup
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 4 People
Calories 1625 kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 Pounds Chicken, Goat meat, beef, fish, lamb
  • 1 Bulb Large Onion
  • 1 Tbsp Salt Salt to taste
  • 1 Tsp Seasoned Salt
  • 3 Habanero Peppers Depends on your tolerance
  • 1/4 Pound Garlic
  • 1/4 Pound Ginger
  • 10 Cups Water Depends on how light or thick you want it. Bear in mind it will thicken overnight.
  • 4 Fresh Tomatoes
  • 2 Cups peanut butter preferably the old fashioned brand

Instructions

Steaming your chicken

  1. On medium heat put your chicken in a big saucepan and add 2 cups of water with salt, 1/2 of the onions and the seasoned salt and let it simmer for about 10 minutes

Blending ingredients

  1. In blender add the other half of the onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger and 2 more cups of water and blend the ingredients till its smooth

Peanut Butter Soup

  1. Pour the tomato blend mix of the simmering chicken and spices and let it boil for another 10 minutes.

  2. Pour the peanut butter with about 3-4 cups of water in a blender / food processor and let it blend   till its nice and smooth

  3.  Pour the peanut butter mix over the chicken and the other ingredients and let boil for another 30 - 45 minutes. Now you can enjoy your world famous peanut butter soup!

This post contains affiliate links. I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link.

Cooking has been my number one activity during this pandemic.

I haven’t made a lot of time to cook in the last few months and I didn’t realize how much I missed it.

This soup brought back a lot of childhood memories.

  My Mom made the world’s best Groundnut soup, and we would have this soup once in every two weeks and trust me it was to live for!

We ate Peanut butter soup with Fufu or Omo Tuo (Rice Balls).

I don’t think there was ever a fight on those weekends because all five of us kids were happy campers.

The left-overs will be eaten with Gari, a West African meal that is bagged or packaged and can be eaten with almost everything and its a good add on to Waakye. 

You can find the original post on https://www.theschizochef.com/.

If you ever try it let me know, trust me you’ll thank me forever!

This post contains affiliate links.

I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link.

 

KYINKYINGA – (Beef Kebab) Recipe

 

KYINKYINGA – (Beef Kebab) Recipe

KYINKYINGA – (Beef Kebab) Recipe is a Ghanaian local name given to Kebab.

It is a popular street food in Ghana, Nigeria, and other West African countries.

Suya kebab is synonymous to Kyinkyinga in Nigeria.

Kyinkyinga is served in most restaurants in Ghana and sold at almost every street corner.

Kebab is one of those foods that are hardly made at home, and they usually taste better on the streets.

However, if you’re brave enough you can make better Kebabs from home.

I remember when we were kids my dad would take all 5 of us kids to this popular Bar / Restaurant in town.

In fact, the restaurant had some of the most delicious Kebabs in town.

Those were some precious childhood memories for me.

The good news is that you can purchase Kebab powder on this site!

Good ole Amazon has some great peanut powder you can use as a substitute.

Make sure you have it with a cool drink.

Moreover, you can find the ingredients from an African store near you.

This post contains affiliate links.

I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link.

Kyinkyinga
5 from 14 votes
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Kyinkyinga

Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine West African
Keyword Kebab, Kyinkyinga
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6 People

Ingredients

Kyinkyinga Powder

  • 1 Cup Ground Peanuts You can also get peanut butter powder
  • 1 Tbsp Onion Powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 Tbsp Paprika
  • 1 Tsp Ginger Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper

Beef on Skewers

  • 5 Pounds Diced Beef
  • 1/2 Bulb Onion
  • Oil
  • Skewers
  • 1/4 Bell Pepper

Instructions

  1. In a bowl mix all your spices together to make the great Kyinkyinga powder.

    Suya Powder

  2. Dip a cooking brush in oil and quote your beef on skewers with oil

  3.  Generously rub your kyinkyinga powder mix on the meat and place them on a baking dish

  4. Place the baking  dish of kebabs in a 350 degree Fahrenheit pre-heated conventional oven. Bake it for about 20 minutes and your best ever beef kebabs will be ready to be devoured!

    Suya

Recipe Notes

Suya
Kyinkyinga

 

Boflot (Puff-Puff)

 

Boflot (Puff-Puff)
5 from 7 votes
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Boflot

Its a popular West-African street food similar to donuts in other parts of the world. It's called Boflot in Ghana, Puff-Puff in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. 

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine West African
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 5 People
Calories 180 kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 CUPS Unbleached Flour
  • 2 Tbsp Dry Yeast
  • 2 Cups Lukewarm Water
  • 1 Cup Honey / Sugar I use honey
  • 1 Tbsp Salt
  • 1 Tsp Nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Boil two cups of water for a few minutes or until lukewarm and add the salt and a tbsp of honey then add the yeast. Let it sit between 5-10 minutes or until it reacts, it should grow in volume and become foamy.

  2. Pour the the flour in a big bowl and add the nutmeg.
  3.  Mix the flour and the yeast mix together and let it rise for about 45 minutes.
  4. Scoop them up with an ice cream scoop or roll them into a ball shape.

  5. Deep fry them about 5-10 minutes. Time to enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Earlier this year I learned how to make one of my favorite snacks growing up in Ghana called Boflot. I remember I used to have it for breakfast with some Koko (Corn porridge). or with a glass of hot chocolate preferably Milo. You can get them when you're downtown Accra and you need a quick snack to stave off your hunger. They can also be eaten as an appetizer before your main course at an African restaurant.

Its also made in Nigeria and Sierra Leone where its called Puff-puff. Its a little similar to donuts and actually there are a few British I know who call it donuts. 



Kaklo (ripe plantain spicy cakes)

Kaklo (ripe plantain spicy cakes)

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I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link.

Kaklo, this week’s recipe is so dear to my heart because it has always been one of my favorite meals.

This is different from fried plantains aka Kelewele.

The difference is that Kaklo is made cornflour and Kelewele is not.

I always looked forward to lunch on Fridays as a kid. Because I knew I was going to be eating either fried plantains or Kaklo with beans stew.

The day you try this recipe you’ll feel cheated because it took you so long to find out about this wonderful recipe.

Also, don’t keep this recipe to yourself share it with your guests,  spices can found on Amazon.

Kaklo
5 from 5 votes
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Kaklo (ripe plantain spicy cakes)

Extremely ripe plantains mashed and deep fried into spicy cakes.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine West African
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 People
Author fnonterah2018

Ingredients

  • 5 Ripe Plantains
  • 2 Cups Canola Oil (For deep fry)
  • 1/2 Cup Corn Flour
  • 1 Tbsp Salt
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 Clove Garlic
  • 1 Bulb Onion
  • 1/2 Pound Ginger Root
  • 1/2 Cup Water

Instructions

  1. Cut up the ripe plantains into little pieces
  2. Put in a blender together with all the other ingredients and blend until its a smooth puree
  3. With an ice cream scoop, fill up the scoop with the mix; you can also make the balls with your palm
  4. Deep fry them for about 10 minutes or until its like the above shown picture. And your Kaklo is ready to be devoured!