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Klaklo- never too late with plantains!

by

Klaklo, krakro

Name: Klaklo
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Foodie: Elodie

Plantains are very special in my opinion, because they can be eaten and still be delicious no matter how ripe they are.  I am hard pressed to think of another starch that has similar attributes: I cannot remember how many times I went to the grocery store, determined to buy fresh vegetables to incorporate into scrumptious dishes, and how many times half of my purchases would end up spoilt before I even had the time to cook them. The story ends a little more happily when plantains were part of my purchases. I typically buy plantains at different states of ripeness so as not to have to cook them all at once, granted this would not be the worst thing in the world. It would just give me an excuse to eat alloco for lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner.

Similarly to bananas, plantains get blacker and softer as their ripen. When they get very soft, and yield to the touch, even when they have turned black, they can still be used to make a delicious dish called klaklo. Klaklo is a dish originating from Côte d’Ivoire, in West Africa. For more delicious tropical recipes, check out www.tropicalchefs.com

 

Klaklo

Print recipe
Klaklo
Serves 2
Prep time 30 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes
Total time 50 minutes
Meal type Side Dish

Ingredients

  • 3 very ripe plantains
  • 1/2 cup of rice flour
  • half a medium onion, (grated (or blended in a mixer with some water))
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup cup of oil for frying

Directions

1. Peel the plantains and put them in a big bowl.
2. Using a fork or a spoon, mash the plantains. It is not necessary to remove the seeds from the plantains, but you can if you prefer.
3. Add the grated onion rice flour and keep mashing the plantains until you obtain a lumpy paste.
4. Add the salt and red pepper flakes
5. Bring the oil to heat in a deep skillet. Using two spoons, fashion little dough balls of plantains, about the size that you would use for small cookies, and place them in the hot oil
6. Turn each klaklo on its other side when one side is a golden-brown.
7. Serve with a side of tomato gravy and accompany with some meat or fish, or just enjoy on its own as an afternoon snack!

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Comments

  1. I have definitely thrown away plantain that I thought was too ripe to fry. I never even thought of doing something like this. 🙁 amateur mistake.

  2. We have kaklo/klaklo in Ghana too. Traditionally the plantain is mixed with corndough, but you can mix with flour or rice flour. Fried in spicy palm oil or veg oil. Our foods sound very similar.

    • Seems like Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire have slightly different versions of the same dish. Mostly the Akan dishes, which makes sense

  3. Seriously, tropical foodies, you guys rock when it comes to helping a cranky woman trying to cook some grub on a warm spring afternoon in San Francisco (it is unusually warm here in March). I had some plantains rotting (they definitely seemed like they were with their increasing black spots) and although they were still not ripe enough for a mash-up, my other half diigently boiled them in the microwave till we got the mushy consistency and after tossing in the remaining ingredients, we had some yummy klaklo on our hands. It tasted amazing and was a perfect accompaniment to our daal. YUM!

  4. I tried this last weekend and boy! i did enjoy it! My sister came to visit and had some too. Thank you. Now i wont have to worry abt my plantain getting over ripe

  5. Can you use normal bananas for this? We don’t have plantains here, but this sounds delicious.

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