Ivorian Alloco Recipe and Braised Chicken
Aperçu
Alloco is fried plantain, and the name comes from the Baoulé, one of the large Akan groups of eastern Côte d'Ivoire, whose word loko described a plantain that had ripened. That etymology tells you what matters most about the dish: the ripeness of the fruit. Plantain is a staple across the humid West African belt and fried plantain exists everywhere in it under different names. Benin and Nigeria call it dodo, Ghana has kelewele, Togo has amadan, Congo has makemba. What sets alloco apart is not the plantain but the company it keeps: a fierce sauce de piment, and grilled fish, braised chicken or eggs alongside. It has its own building. The Allocodrome in the Cocody district of Abidjan grew up in the mid 1980s around a cluster of street vendors, mostly women, who were already selling alloco to passers by, and it is now an open air institution where people go to eat, talk and watch the street. Very few dishes anywhere have a place named after them. Getting the plantain right is the whole technique: somewhere between semi ripe and ripe, yellow with black spots but not black all over, so it caramelises without collapsing into sweetness.
Note de Patrimoine AFN
Alloco takes its name from loko, the Baoulé word for a ripened plantain, the Baoulé being one of the Akan peoples of eastern Côte d'Ivoire. The Allocodrome, an open air eating place in the Cocody district of Abidjan, developed in the mid 1980s around street vendors selling the dish.
Ingrédients
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Préparation
- 1
Peel and cut the plantains into cubes.
- 2
Salt the plantain pieces.
- 3
Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry the plantain until each side is golden brown.
- 4
Remove and drain on paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
- 5
Blend the coriander, oregano, onion, garlic, chillies, oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and bouillon cube together to make the marinade.
- 6
Place the chicken legs in a bowl and add the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least several hours, or overnight and up to 24 hours.
- 7
Preheat the grill to around 150°C at grate level. The grill should not be very hot.
- 8
Grill the chicken legs over direct heat, turning about every 3 minutes, until cooked through and the internal temperature has reached at least 74°C.
- 9
Rest the chicken for 3 minutes and serve with the alloco.
Notes de l’Africook
- Choose plantains between semi ripe and ripe: yellow skin with black spots, but not black all over. Too green and they are starchy and bland; too ripe and they collapse into a sweet mush in the pan.
- Get the oil properly hot before the plantain goes in. Cool oil means the pieces absorb it and go greasy rather than caramelising at the edges.
- Do not crowd the pan. Fry in batches so each piece has contact with the surface and browns rather than steaming.
- Marinate the chicken overnight if you can. Several hours is the minimum and 24 hours is better.
- Sauce de piment, the fierce Ivorian chilli sauce, is what completes the dish. Grilled fish or boiled eggs are the other standard partners.
Questions fréquentes
What ripeness of plantain should I use for alloco?
Between semi ripe and ripe: the skin should be yellow with black spots but not blackened all over. That stage has enough sugar to caramelise at the edges and enough starch to hold its shape. Fully green plantain is hard and bland, and fully black plantain turns to sweet mush in the pan.
What is the difference between alloco, dodo and kelewele?
They are all fried plantain with regional differences. Alloco in Côte d'Ivoire is generally plain fried and served with a chilli sauce. Dodo, in Nigeria and Benin, is similar. Kelewele in Ghana is the outlier: the plantain is tossed in ginger, chilli and spices before frying, so the seasoning is on the fruit rather than beside it.
What is alloco served with?
Sauce de piment, a fierce chilli sauce, is close to essential. Beyond that: grilled fish, braised chicken as in this recipe, or boiled eggs. It also appears as an accompaniment to a larger meal rather than the centre of one, and it is sold as a standalone street snack.
Why does my fried plantain go soggy?
The oil was not hot enough, or the pan was crowded. Both drop the temperature so the plantain absorbs oil instead of sealing. Fry in batches at a proper heat, and drain on paper towel immediately. Plantain that is too ripe also releases more sugar and moisture and will never crisp properly.
Avis
5 avis
Hard to find proper dark yellow plantains at the market in Perry Barr this week, but I waited till they turned black before cutting into cubes. The fresh oregano in the green blend for the chicken marinading was different from our usual Nigerian style but e sweet o! Halal chicken legs turned out so juicy.
Chale, Alloco and kelewele are cousins paa, but the difference is in the spices! Kelewele relies heavily on ginger, while this Ivorian marinade with coriander and fresh oregano gives the braised chicken a very unique herb taste. Fried my plantain cubes until deep golden brown. Very nice oo.
2 red hot chillies was not enough for my family abeg, we had to double it! But blending the fresh oregano with coriander and lemon juice for the chicken marinade was no be small thing o. Golden brown fried plantain with that juicy chicken was top notch sha.
Managed to find ripe plantains at Vallarta market down the road in LA. Fried up the cubes, but my skillet took closer to 45 mins to get all 6 chicken legs cooked through properly, not 30. Still, that coriander and lemon juice marinade is completely lekker.
Marinade worked brilliantly on the chicken legs over the braai coals instead of just roasting. Added 2 extra garlic cloves and halved the lemon juice to 1 tablespoon. Plantains were perfectly golden brown in the skillet. Proper lekker weekend food.