1
Make spice paste
Mix ginger, garlic, onion if using, chile, cloves, nutmeg, and salt into a rough paste.
Ghana | Snack
Kelewele
Ghanaian ripe plantain cubes marinated with ginger, garlic, chile, cloves, nutmeg, and salt, then fried until caramelized.
Country
Ghana
Region
West Africa
Time
25 min
Serves
4
Level
easy
Recipe overview
What to know before you cook
Kelewele should hit sweet, hot, and warm-spiced at once. Let the plantain sit briefly in the paste so the edges fry dark and fragrant.
What the dish tastes like
Ghanaian ripe plantain cubes marinated with ginger, garlic, chile, cloves, nutmeg, and salt, then fried until caramelized.
When to cook it
Best for Evening snack, with a easy cooking level and about 25 minutes total.
What to serve alongside it
Roasted peanuts, grilled meat, beans, red red, or a cold malt drink
Follow the collection
Kelewele appears in 3 AfroKitchen collections. Start with Quick & Easy if you want more dishes in the same mood. Quick & Easy
Regional lane
Rice, beans, and street table. Waakye, jollof, kelewele, and lunch-counter plates with many sides.
Chef watch-outs
- Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
- Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.
- Cooking on heat that is too high once the dish should be steaming or simmering.
How you know it is ready
- The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
- Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.
- The final texture should match the dish style before you plate it.
Pantry lane
shito, palm oil, sorghum leaves, fermented corn dough, groundnut
Recipe photos
See the dish before you cook
Each recipe supports one main image and up to four extra prep, serving, or step photos when they are available.
Chef board
Build the table around Kelewele
Roasted peanuts, grilled meat, beans, red red, or a cold malt drink
Best route from here
Rice, beans, and street table
Collections to keep cooking
How to cook it
Step-by-step method
Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.
4 steps
25 min total
easy
2
Season plantain
Toss plantain cubes with the spice paste and rest briefly.
Marinate
15:00
3
Fry in batches
Heat oil and fry plantain in batches until dark golden and crisp at the edges.
Fry batch
04:00
4
Drain and serve
Drain well and serve hot with roasted peanuts or beans.
Some spice pastes include onion, anise, grains of selim, or calabash nutmeg.