kelewele bites

photo by kelly bone

My current assignment is to come up with creative and attractive African inspired appetizers for an event. The first thing that came to mind was kelewele (pronounced kelly-welly), a dish that I know and love from years living in Ghana, West Africa.

West African plantains are the best I've ever had. They're spiked with ginger, garlic, hot pepper and salt. In Ghana they're deep fried but I like to coat and roast. If you cut them into skinny little discs and stack them up on a toothpick they are transformed from humble nighttime street snack to high class cocktail party item.

KELEWELE

• 3 lbs ripe sweet plantains (skin black if possible) sliced into 1/8"-1/4" rounds
• 1/4 cup avocado oil (or other oil)
• 4 ounces fresh ginger
• 3 ounces fresh garlic
• 1-2 habanero peppers
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375F. Place the plantains in a mixing bowl. In a blender, combine oil, ginger, garlic, peppers and salt. Blend until smooth, and then pour over the plantains, stirring to coat well. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Spread plantains on a parchment lined baking sheet (or two) in an even layer. Roast for about 20 minutes, until edges begin to caramelize. Using a spatula, flip them and continue to roast until they are golden brown and caramelized. Stir once or twice during the process to prevent the outer pieces from burning. 

Once cooked, remove from oven. These are best hot but still taste good even as they cool down. If you are serving them as an appetizer, spike three to a toothpick and arrange on a plate with a dusting of sea salt, garlic chives and aleppo pepper.

Nkatiekonto & Omotuo (Groundnut Soup & Riceballs)

groundnut soup & riceballs: veggie voyager style

Here is a favorite recipe from Ghana. It is one of the more famous foods of the region, with good reason: it's delicious! Nkatiekonto is most commonly found on Sundays at chop bars (small street-side restaurants), especially in the bigger towns and cities. It is also prepared frequently in homes across the country.

As always, this is the veggie voyager version. I have made a number of changes to suit my tastes and needs. Typically this soup is thinner than the version I make. Nkatiekonto also, invariably, has meat and fish. And the riceballs are usually made with white rice, and are the size of a baby's head. When we make this in the village, my friends are always gracious and accommodating, omitting the meat and "beefing it up" with all kinds of vegetables, beans, mushrooms, etc. It is a phenomenal dish that is easy to make...

If you want to remain authentic, the following vegetables can be found in Ghana: green cabbage, green bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, garden eggs (a small, egg shaped relative of the eggplant), okra, green beans, and sometimes, if you are lucky, cauliflower. Ghana has many other veggies, of course, but these listed are the ones you'd want in your groundnut soup. Two more exotic additions include local mushrooms (see linked image below) and kontomire (which are the leaves of the coco-yam). In fact, the "konto" in the title of this recipe refers to the chopped kontomire in the soup. (Plain groundnut soup is actually called Nkatiekwan.) In Ghana there are only two types of dried beans found in the market: black eyed peas (simply called "beans" or "adua") and a more exotic bean, the bambara bean (which is actually more closely related to groundnuts than to proper beans). As it is virtually impossible to find bambara beans outside of Africa, go for the black eyed peas.

This is what mushrooms look like in Ghana.
They are seasonal and a real treat when you can get them

If you are willing to stray from authenticity, go ahead and add whatever vegetables you like to this. I took a middle road, adding carrots, green beans, crimini mushrooms, red bell peppers, zucchini, black eyed peas, chopped tomatoes, and kale. The soup base is seasoned with ginger, garlic, hot peppers, tomato paste, and salt. You should definitely like peanut butter if you're going to have this soup. 

 

In Ghana, groundnuts are a main staple in the diets of nearly everyone. I imagine that children with peanut allergies just don't make it long there. When I was in the Peace Corps, I served with a fellow who was allergic to groundnuts. I couldn't imagine the difficulties he had in eating every single day, not to mention all the tasty treats he missed out on because of his allergies. (Why the Peace Corps sent a nut-allergic person to West Africa is completely beyond me.) Ghanaian groundnuts are very similar to American groundnuts (peanuts) so you may use peanut butter when making this dish. When purchasing peanut butter for this recipe, try to get the all natural variety that has no additives. I like the kind that you can grind yourself in the market.

If you have a blender, then this soup is a breeze. If you don't, no problem. You'll just be mincing and/or grinding a little more. I got experimental this last time and used a pressure cooker. It worked great, cooking the soup and the beans in about 15 minutes, albeit burning the soup to the bottom of the pan. If you don't have a pressure cooker, know that your soup needs to simmer for about 1-2 hours, or until the oil in the peanut butter begins to separate from the rest of the soup. I like this thick, almost like stew. If you want a more authentic Ghanaian soup consistency, simply thin it down with stock or water as you are cooking it.

Now for the rice balls, which are but one of the myriad of balls of starch that are eaten in Ghana, and definitely the most accessible here in the States and abroad. Others include kenkey (fermented corn dough), banku (fermented blend of corn and cassava dough, and my personal favorite), and tuozafi (corn or millet dough). There are others but these are the main players. I chose omotuo (riceballs) because they are simple to make and the main ingredient (rice) is sold everywhere. I like to use brown rice and I make mine about the size of a lemon, using an ice cream scoop as my measure. If I were Ghanaian they'd be much bigger, and I'd get mildly offended if you didn't finish your whole ball.

eating with your right hand...

To eat this dish, one has a rice ball in a bowl of soup, often a shared dish with one or two other people. Using your hand like a knife, 'cut' off a bite of rice ball and scoop some of the soup up with it. Carefully convey this handful of soup and rice to your mouth. Only use your right hand, and only eat on your side of the ball when sharing a bowl with someone else. (That right hand rule is very, very important.) Sharing a dish with someone else is bonding, intimate and culturally gratifying. Try it at home! Just make sure your soup isn't too hot...

Nkatiekonto & Omotuo
(Groundnut Soup & Riceballs)

 Nkatiekonto (Groundnut Soup with Greens)

• 1 onion
• 1 head garlic, peeled
• 2 inches ginger
• 2 hot peppers (habanero is the most authentic)
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1-1/2 cups natural, creamy peanut butter
• 6-8 cups water
• 1 TBS of salt (or so)
• 1 cup of black eyed peas, soaked for a few hours
• 8 cups of vegetables, chopped into large-ish chunks (carrots, green or red peppers, green beans, cabbage, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, etc)
• 1 head kale, chard, spinach, or collard greens (chopped)

ingredients of the soup base

Chop the onion and saute in a large soup pot with a small amount of oil. Once translucent, add the mushrooms if using. In a blender, combine garlic, ginger, hot pepper, tomato paste (which is widely used  in Ghana, by the way), peanut butter, and a couple cups of the water. Blend until smooth and pour into the soup pot. (If you don't have a blender then mince the ginger, garlic, and pepper and toss everything into the pot, it will work just fine). In Ghana they use a locally made clay mortar and wooden pestle to grind the ingredients; most people do not have a blender. Add the rest of the water, the beans, and the remaining vegetables, except for the greens, which you should add in the last 10 minutes. Simmer on medium low heat for an hour or more, until the beans are soft and oil begins to separate and float on top of the soup. If you have a pressure cooker, you can cook this whole concoction that way, but be aware that some will burn on the bottom. I let the pressure cap jiggle and spurt for 12 minutes. Serve with Omotuo.

Omotuo (Riceballs)

• 3 cups brown or white rice
• 6 1/2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons salt

scooping the smashed rice

In a rice cooker or on the stovetop, cook the rice as you normally would, adding the salt before you cook the rice. The 1/2 cup extra water will help to soften the rice and make it into balls when the time comes. Once the rice is cooked and all water is absorbed, use a wooden spoon or spatula to smash and mash the rice in the pot until it is pasty and sticky. Have ready a smooth surfaced, round bowl and a small amount of clean water. Moisten the bowl and scoop about 1/3 cup of rice into the bowl. Using a swift circular motion, swirl the riceball in the bowl for a few seconds to create the ball shape. Flip the ball over and repeat, and then transfer to a serving dish. Repeat with all the rice until finished.

shaping the riceballs

mushroom photo credit

Kelewele

When it comes to vegetarian food in Ghana and West Africa, I'm your girl. I have spent about 4 years (cumulatively) in Ghana in the past 10 years. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer there for 2 1/2 years, and while there I forged lasting relationships with many people. After I finished my service, I sort of stayed on in Ghana...and haven't really completely left yet. We have hosted & chaperoned 4 groups of teenagers in Ghana, to do development projects as well as to learn about the culture and see the sights.

palm nut soup...village style

Being a veggie voyager in Ghana has its challenges. Ghanaian food is very tasty...especially if you like goat meat. Or sheep or cow or chicken or fish. Dried, smoked, ground fish is used as a flavoring and a seasoning even in dishes that are otherwise vegetarian. I had quite a few miserable and hungry evenings when I first arrived, before I was in control of my diet and knew all the tricks. I wasn't even a vegetarian in the first couple of years...but I could never get used to the fish or the goat. They just don't taste good to me.

But I watched, and learned, and once I had my own kitchen, friends, and a grasp on the language, a whole new world of food opened up to me. There are quite a few delicious offerings in Ghana that a vegetarian can enjoy, especially if you are open to eating street food and snacks. And there are tons of dishes that you can make at home, sans fish or meat while still maintaining the integrity of the recipe. Some of my best memories involve listening to music, drinking local booze and cooking with my sisters in the village...learning from the best. I would like to begin sharing my some of these recipes with you, so you can have a taste of Ghana at home.

good times...

This is one of my favorite street snacks, and all the ingredients are available here in the States so I hope you will try it. It's called Kelewele (pronounced "kelee-welee") and is typically found in the South, on the streets, at night. It is a favorite out-drinking snack, although you can occasionally find it during the day as well. If you are going to Ghana, be on the lookout! You can't mistake the smell of these, like a beacon, the scent will draw you right to the lady (it's always a lady) on the side of the street, dropping clumps of seasoned plantains into hot palm oil. Kelewele is so good, I think, because it offers a wide variety of sensations to the palate: sweet, salty, spicy, umame, oily, and chewy.

I absolutely love this food, and I'm not the only one. Check out the kelewele facebook page, with over 30,000 members!

It consists of very ripe plantains, ginger, cloves, hot pepper and salt, fried in oil until dark and chewy. The plantains must be very ripe for this to be delicious, as it is the sweetness that sets off the spiciness. There are other recipes calling for unripe plantains in the Ghanaian repertoire but for this one they should be dark brown and a little bit soft. Here in the States, you can find plantains at Latino markets (sometimes called macho bananas) or at Asian markets. If they are not yet ripe, they will ripen on your counter with time. I like to add garlic as well, although I am not sure that all of the kelewele vendors of Ghana would approve...

In Ghana, one makes a paste or puree by using a locally made, clay mortar and wooden pestle (see fancy version below). The one I have here is more decorative than functional so I used an electric coffee grinder to pulverize the peppers, ginger, salt, garlic and cloves, and it worked like a charm.

Plantains should be very ripe!

 Kelewele

• 4 very ripe plantains
• 2 habanero peppers (or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder)
• 2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped roughly
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled (optional)

• Oil for frying (red palm oil if you can find it, otherwise vegetable oil is fine) I used rice bran oil.

Peel and then slice the plantains into medallions or chunks.

Pour about 1 inch of oil into a skillet or pan over medium to high heat and allow to get very hot.

Grind the peppers, ginger, salt, cloves and garlic together into a paste, either with a mortar and pestle or in a coffee grinder. In a bowl, toss this with the sliced plantains until all are coated. When the oil is hot, carefully drop some of the coated plantain slices into the oil and fry, stirring occasionally until golden brown. Using a slotted spoon, remove them and drain on a paper towel for a couple of minutes. Repeat until all the plantains are cooked. This dish is best served hot.

One thing I have noticed when I make this in the States is that the plantains I find here are not as inherently sweet. In order to compensate, I heat a quarter cup of honey and toss the fried and drained plantains with it. Only then, does my Stateside kelewele taste properly sweet, salty, spicy...and perfect.