Nigerian Plantain Recipes

        How to cook Unripe Plantain Porridge

 

This fast and easy recipe is cooked with unripe plantain which is known to be rich in iron nutrients.

Ingredients

• Unripe Plantain – 4 pieces
• Pumpkin Leaves – approx. 20 leaves (or Frozen Spinach Leaves – 6 cubes)
• Fish – 1 medium size
• Ground Crayfish – 5 teaspoons
• Onions – 2 medium sized bulbs
• Red palm Oil – 2 cooking spoonfuls
• Pepper and Salt - to taste
• Seasoning – 1 Maggi/Knorr cubes

Before you cook Unripe Plantain Porridge

Wash, peel and cut up the plantain as shown. Wash and cut the pumpkin leaves into small pieces. If you will be using frozen spinach, allow to thaw just enough to let you cut them into tiny pieces. Leave to thaw completely and squeeze out the extra water using a sieve.
Wash, cut and remove the fish intestines. Cut up the onions into tiny pieces. Grind the crayfish and pepper. Now you are ready to cook the unripe plantain porridge.

Cooking Directions

1. Put the cut plantain in a pot. Add the chopped onions, seasoning, fish, ground crayfish and pepper.
2. Add water till the quantity is just above the level of the pot contents.
3. Cook till the contents starts to boil. Add the red palm oil and salt to taste. Cover the pot and keep cooking till done. This is when the plantain is tender to touch.
4. Add the vegetables, cover the pot and turn off the heat.
5. Leave to stand for five minutes and stir the contents.

Serve with chilled fruit juice, or coconut juice.

              Nigerian Fried Plantain

 

Fried Plantain is one of the easy and fast Nigerian food recipes. It can be eaten with fried egg, omelette, Moi Moi, Custard meal, oat meal, akamu (ogi) etc.
It is also a major side dish to all the rice recipes and can be enjoyed by people from all over the world.

Ingredients

• Ripe Plantain (The plantain should be ripe and hard, it is not advisable to use plantain that is soft)
• Vegetable Oil – enough for deep frying.
• Salt to taste

Before you fry the plantain

Wash, peel and slice the plantain as shown. Place in a bowl and add a little salt. Toss the plantain to ensure that the salt is evenly distributed.
Pour a generous quantity of vegetable oil into a frying pan and allow to heat. If using a deep fryer, preheat the oil to 170°C.

Frying Directions

1. When the oil is heated, add a considerable quantity of the plantain slices to the oil, leaving enough room for the slices to fry evenly.
2. When the underside of the slices starts to turn golden, flip the slices on their other side.
3. Fry till a desired browning is achieved.
4. Remove and place in a sieve to drain out the oil.
5. Fry the next batch of the plantain slices following steps 1 through 4.
Serve with fried egg, omelette, moi moi, Custard, oat meal, akamu (corn starch meal).

       How to cook Plantain Moi Moi

 

One of the most displeasing things is to find that your staple food is going bad in the pantry. These hard times are definitely not when we want to be wasteful. But one staple food you will not be so disappointed to find that it is going bad is plantain. If you have been throwing away your over-ripe plantains, mmh. Today, you can go and sin no more because you are about to discover how that supposedly bad food can be used to prepare one of the most mouth watering recipes.

Ingredients

• 4 pcs of over-ripe plantain (Even if the skin is now black, so long as the inside is not decomposed)
• Unripe plantain flour (1 Cigar cup) | 200g
• Palm Oil (in the absence of this, vegetable oil)
• Crayfish – A handful
• Onions (1 medium bulb)
• Pepper and Salt to taste
• Seasoning – 2 Maggi / Knorr cubes

Before you cook Plantain Moi Moi

Put the unripe plantain flour in a bowl, add a small quantity of warm water and mix till a smooth paste is achieved.
Wash, peel and cut the over-ripe plantain into small pieces. Blend to a smooth paste and mix with the unripe plantain flour.
Blend the crayfish, onions and pepper.

Cooking Directions

1. Mix all the blended ingredients in a big bowl.
2. Add 3 cooking spoons of palm oil.
   
3. Add the seasoning and salt to taste.
4. Add more warm water to get a medium consistency if necessary.
5. Scoop the mix into small bowls, aluminium foil bags or uma leaves, just as you would with the beans Moi Moi.
6. Set in a pot with minimal quantity of boiling water and cook till done. Add water along the way if necessary.

Serve with Custard meal, oat meal or akamu (corn starch meal). It can also be eaten alone as a quick snack.

            How to cook Boiled Plantain

 

This is the easiest plantain recipe to prepare. If you are just home from work and you have either ripe or unripe plantain in your pantry and some palm oil, then in about 15 mins (depending on your stove's heating capacity), you have a quick meal on your table. This dish is usually eaten with pepper sauce. But if you do not have pepper, or will not be bothered with getting that prepared, the good old palm oil and salt will do.

Ingredients

• Ripe / Unripe Plantain – as many pieces as you can eat!
• Palm Oil
• Onions
• Hot Chilli Pepper
• Salt (Optional)

Cooking Directions

1. Wash the plantain and cut each fruit into two or three pieces depending on how big the fruits are.
2. Put in a pot, add some water and set to cook.
3. Meanwhile chop the onions and chilli pepper.
4. Heat some oil (just enough heat to melt it). Pour in a plate and add the chopped onions and chilli pepper. Add salt to taste.
5. Cook the plantain till done, add some salt to your taste and allow to simmer for a few more minutes. If using ripe plantains, be sure to watch the cooking closely because it will get done quicker than unripe plantains.
6. The boiled plantain is ready to be served. Remember to remove the peels before eating!
   

   How to prepare Roasted Plantain

    

   
   This is a summer weekend delight. You can roast or barbecue both ripe and unripe plantain. If you have a sweet tooth, you definitely want to go for the roasted ripe plantain. Add some fish (preferably mackerel) in the barbecue and you will be wondering what you have been doing by not trying this Nigerian yummy recipe before now.
   
   

   Ingredients for Roasted Plantain and Pepper Sauce

7. Ripe / Unripe Plantain – as much as you can eat!
8. Fish – Preferably Mackerel
9. Palm Oil
10. Onions
11. Hot Chilli Pepper
12. Salt (to taste)

Before you prepare Roasted Plantain

1. Prepare the pepper sauce to go with the roasted plantain and set aside.
2. Wash and peel the unripe / ripe plantains to be roasted.
3. Wash the fish, remove the stomach and spread salt on them.
4. Set up your barbecue on medium heat as the plantain needs to be roasted slowly.

Roasting Directions

1. When the barbecue is heated, place the peeled plantains and fish on the barbecue grids and start roasting. Remember to turn the sides from time to time for an even roast.
   

   Note: Plantain can also be roasted in an oven. Place the peeled plantains on the grill rack and place the rack as close to the gril as possible. Cover the oven and set to grill. The heat should be between 150°C and 200°C as the plantains need to be roasted slowly. Check from time to time and turn the plantains on the other side to ensure an even roast.
   

2. When the plantain is perfectly roasted, place the pepper sauce on the grid to heat it up.
3. The roasted plantain is ready to be served. Dip the roasted plantains in the pepper sauce to eat.
4. Wash it down with a chilled carbonated drink.
5. Then go and take a nap because that's the only thing you want to do after this meal.