Here’s a plantain recipe so good you’ll be left dreaming about it --[Reported by Umva mag]

I love teaching people to cook my recipes because I feel like I’m sharing my culture with the world.

Oct 15, 2024 - 07:21

Here’s a plantain recipe so good you’ll be left dreaming about it --[Reported by Umva mag]

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Zeenat has always been passionate about food, ever since her childhood in the western region of Ghana. Her Nigerian heritage is also connected to this passion – after her great grandparents moved from Nigeria to Ghana 200 years ago.

This love of cooking is something she inherited from her mother, who learned it from her mother.

But it was actually a cooking class at school where she learned how to make kakro – ripe plantain, flour and seasoning fried into balls.

That’s because, in Ghana, schools combine the academic subjects you study with skills like craft, cooking and other things. This ingenuity is one thing in particular that she admires about her home country.

A collage of Zeenat wearing an apron and a plate of kakro — I love teaching people to cook my recipes (Picture: Fede Rivas)

Whenever I cook my kakro with fried yam recipe, I wear my bracelet. It is a string of beads made out of coral – a traditional stone found in Africa.

It is meant for royalties and those who are in the royal clan and is given when you are installed as a king, queen, princess, or chief. I choose to wear it because I am from the royal clan.

It’s a symbol of my Ghanaian culture – and it makes me feel connected to my ancestry.

What you need to make kakro

6 plantains, ripe (black)
1⁄4 tsp dried sage
1 tsp salt
120g self-raising flour
1 tsp dried oregano
2L vegetable oil, for frying

When I was a child, I loved making kakro. It’s very easy to put together, easy to pick up, light and very filling.

I have been cooking since the age of seven but the first time I made this recipe on my own, I was around nine or 10 years old. I would get a little pocket money every week, so I used the money to buy plantain at the market.

I had my younger sister with me while my mother was working in her shop. I mashed it with my hands and used oil we had at home. I felt excitement because it was something I had never done before on my own.

I continued to make it because I love plantain (I’d eat it in my sleep if I could!)

But I’ve actually improved the recipe a bit myself since then. In the past, my mother just mashed the plantain, added a bit of salt and fried them. I decided to add a bit more aroma to mine by adding oregano and sage.

close-up of deep fried Plantain fritters Klako on a white plate with hot pepper and tomato sauce, african cuisine, horizontal view — My recipe uses special shito sauces, a staple in Ghanaian cuisine (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

How to make kakro

Score the plantains lengthwise and peel the skin. Roughly dice them.
Transfer to a bowl and mash with a potato masher until a very smooth paste forms. Alternatively, you can use a food processor.
Add the flour and stir until a smooth batter/sticky dough forms.
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan ready for frying.
Use your hand or a couple of spoons to form balls – a bit smaller than golf-ball size – and drop the balls into the hot oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan.
Fry for about 3-5 mins until golden brown. Place on a plate covered with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
Add oregano, sage and salt. Stir thoroughly.
Serve with Zeenat’s famous Shito Sauce as a delicious snack!

You can pair the kakro with potatoes, but I prefer yam because that is what we normally have traditionally.

My recipe uses special shito (a collection of Ghanaian spices) sauces – there are even versions you can do for vegans or vegetarians, or one which is much more spicy.

I make the dish at many different times – breakfast, lunch or dinner. In fact, I like it with porridge, tea or coffee on the side.

My love for cooking has stayed with me throughout my life – even when I left Ghana many years ago, settled into marriage in Nigeria and then came to the United Kingdom a couple of years after. Cooking has also helped me to find work and establish myself in selling food products.

Zeenat with a cooking certificate — My love for cooking has stayed with me throughout my life (Picture: Supplied)

I love teaching people to cook my recipes because I feel like I’m sharing my culture with the world. I talk about my country, my connection to it, and why I love the food I make.

But the best part about sharing my food with the world is hearing how tasty people think it is.

Zeenat’s shito sauces are available to buy or sample through her Instagram here. She has now graduated from teaching Migrateful classes but you can enjoy learning about a range of cuisines and cultures from over 40 of the charity’s chefs taking place in London, Bristol and online to both public and private groups.

Main picture credit: Fede Rivas

This article was first published on October 14, 2022.

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