Ghanaian Recipes

Kelewele

Kelewele is Ghanaian spiced fried plantain: ripe plantain cut into cubes, tossed in a paste of ginger, chilli, garlic and spices, rested, then fried until the outside crisps and the inside stays soft. It is one of the country's best known street foods and is sold from stalls in the evening across Accra. The spicing is what distinguishes it, and it is worth being clear about this because the source is not. **Kelewele is not the same as aloco.** Aloco is the Ivorian name for plain fried ripe plantain, salted and nothing more, and the same dish is dodo in Nigeria and makemba in the Congo. Kelewele is marinated first, and the ginger and chilli are the entire reason it has its own name. Ginger, hot pepper and salt are the base, and nutmeg, garlic, onion and lemon appear in most versions. The rest matters: ten to twenty minutes lets the spice paste get into the cut faces of the plantain rather than sitting on the surface. It is eaten on its own, with roasted peanuts, or alongside rice and bean dishes, and it is sometimes described as vegetarian meat for the substance it lends a plate. Traditionally it is fried in red palm oil.

35 minEasyGhana

Recipe by Deborah · Africook

Oven Baked Tilapia

Tilapia is native to Africa, including Ghana, and it is one of the fish Ghanaians eat most. It belongs to the Cichlidae family, grows fast, and has a mild flavour and tender flaky flesh that takes on whatever seasoning it is given, which is why it appears in so many different preparations. In Ghana it is most closely associated with banku, the fermented corn and cassava dough. Grilled tilapia with banku and a fierce pepper sauce is one of the country's defining meals, sold from roadside grills and chop bars and eaten with the fingers. The tang of the fermented banku against the mild fish is the whole reason the pairing works. This version bakes rather than grills, which is the practical domestic method and gives a cleaner result without a charcoal grill. The seasoning is a marinade rather than a rub, built on oil, garlic, ginger, chilli and soy sauce, and the source names two commercial Ghanaian spice blends among the ingredients. Any all purpose seasoning stands in. Banku and tilapia is generally eaten as lunch or dinner rather than breakfast, though the source is relaxed about that, noting there are no strict rules.

★★★★★Highest Rated

40 minEasyGhana

Recipe by Sandynanayaa · Africook

Red-Red Stew

Red red is a Ghanaian black-eyed pea stew, and the name is a plain description of what it looks like. The beans are cooked in red palm oil, zomi, with tomato, and both give the dish the deep rust colour it is named for. It is usually vegetarian, which is worth noting because it is unusual among West African stews in being so by default rather than by adaptation. The beans carry it, and the palm oil provides the richness that meat would otherwise supply. Some households add fish or meat, but the standard version does not need it. Zomi is not interchangeable with ordinary red palm oil. It is palm oil that has been heated and infused, and it carries a deeper, slightly smoky flavour that is much of what makes red red taste Ghanaian rather than generically bean-stewed. The classic accompaniment is fried plantain, and the pairing is close to inseparable, the sweetness of ripe plantain against the savoury, oily beans is the whole balance of the meal. Gari is often served alongside too. It is cheap, filling and slow-cooked, and it is street food as much as home food across Ghana. Black-eyed peas are the usual bean, but the dish tolerates others without complaint.

EasyGhana

Recipe by FoodChef · Africook

Tatale

Tatale is the Ghanaian plantain pancake, made from plantains so ripe their skins have blackened, mashed with onion, ginger and pepper, bound with corn flour and fried in spoonfuls. It is street food and a side dish, and it is sometimes called the golden pancake for its colour. It exists because of thrift. Overripe plantain is too soft to fry as slices and too sweet to use as a starch, and tatale is what was worked out to use it. That origin is common to a great many good dishes and it is worth stating rather than glossing over. Its traditional partner is aboboi, the Bambara bean stew, and the two are eaten together as a complete meal across Ghana. It is also served warm as an appetizer with beans in various forms. It is eaten in Nigeria as well. The source claims a link between the dish and Tatale, a district in northern Ghana. That district exists, but the connection to the dish is not something the record supports, and it is flagged rather than repeated as fact.

1 hr 5 minEasyGhana

Recipe by FoodChef · Africook