Today, I present you a street style kelewele recipe. This version is as spicy as what’s sold on the streets of Accra, but with less oil. This recipe uses the air fryer to to fry the plantains hence making this kelewele much healthier. No more oil soaked fried plantains!
If you have ever visited Ghana and walked the streets at night, you would have come across popular food spots where kelewele is being fried. The aroma of the spicy, sweet and caramelised plantains being fried only draws one closer to the kelewele spot. Kelewele is such a delicacy and just so enjoyable when taking a stroll at night with a loved one. The only undesirable aspect is how oily the kelewele can be. Usually kelewele is made with very ripe plantains which are soft and sweet. Hence they soak up quite a bit of oil when it is fried.
Being able to enjoy this delicacy but a much healthier option is so desirable. Hence, I have shared this air fried version with you.
The recipe below can be halved or doubled depending on the quantity of plantains being cooked. Also let me warn you, this recipe is very SPICY! It depicts the street version. You can half the quantity of scotch bonnet pepper or entirely omit it for a milder version.
I hope you will love this recipe.
NOTE: The temperature settings for my Air fryer was 180 degrees celsius for a time of 20minutes.
My air fryer can be purchased from here
Street Style Spicy Kelewele
Ingredients
- 6-7 (1700) g Medium Ripe Plantains
- 70 g Fresh Onion
- 20 g Scotch Bonnet Pepper
- 40 g Fresh Ginger
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 AVK 7 Spice Blend
- 4 tbsp Oil
Instructions
- Wash the plantains and cut then into halves, lengthwise. Use the thumb to release the plantain from the peel. With the plantain still in the peel, diagonally cut the plantains into 1/2 an inch sizes. Refer to the youtube video for guidance.
- Prepare the pepper mix by blending the onion, ginger & pepper. I will recommend using an Asanka to grind the mix. This helps to release the natural oils from the spice mix which just makes it so flavourful.
- Add the 7 Spice Blend and salt to the pepper mix and combine well.
- Add the pepper mix to the plantain sand 2 tbsps of oil. Mix well. Set aside for about 20 minutes to and hour before frying.
- Preheat the air fryer to 180 degrees celsius. Add a layer of plantains into the air fryer. Spread out the plantain sevenly. Cook the plantains at 180 degrees celsius for about 20 minutes.
- Half way into the cooking time, check on the plantains, tossing it to help it brown evenly. Add a bit more oil if needed to help fry the plantains to have a real kelewele feel.
- Remove the kelewele when browned all round and cooked through. Serve warm with some peanuts.
