Sweet plantain fufu

We fry, boil, grill, roast, make into cakes, make into mosa, mix into puff puff batter.. So why not turn it into swallow? I gave it a try, and I'm glad I did.... If you are looking for healthier options and you want to be sure of what goes into your tummy rather than some processed flour that has mystery powder, why not give this a go?

Ingredients 

2 boiled medium sized ripe plantain (don't add salt)

1. Once properly cooked, put the plantain to a food processor then blend. (If you lucky to have a mortar and pestle, use it to pound).

2. Blend it very smooth and combined. 

Accompanied mine with spicy Nsala soup (white soup) 

Spicy Dodo and Gizzard Medley in Stew (gizdodo)

Popularly known as Gizdodo, this combination has come to be a popular side dish at most Nigerian parties. The sweetness of the dodo (fried ripe plantains) and the savoury meaty crunchiness of the Chicken or Turkey gizzards combined well in a spicy sauce base is so simple yet exciting to the palate.

INGREDIENTS

2 medium sized plantains

2 cups of gizzard

2 tsps of cayene pepper

2 tsps of garlic puree

2 medium sized onions

2 cooking spoons of oil
Oil for frying the plantains

seasoning cubes of your choice

salt

For the stew...

1 Big red bell pepper - Tatase

2 scotch bonnet - atarodo

1 tin of tomato plum or 4 pieces of fresh tomatoes

PREPARATION

I usually marinate the gizzard overnight before boiling it as gizzards can be very difficult to infuse some taste into.

So rinse the gizzard thorougly under running tap water.

Rub in the garlic puree, add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and leave in the fridge to marinate

The next day, boil the marinated gizzard. Add seasoning cubes and salt as you desire, slice the remaining half a bulb of onion to the gizzard and boil it. 

When the gizzard is cooked,  further cut it up into cubes if you desire then fry it and set aside

Now cut the plantains into cubes, add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and salt to it. Fry it and set aside

*Blend the peppers and tomatoes with half a bulb of onions. Boil the pepper mixture to drain out excess water.
Pour the oil in a clean pot, once it is hot, add in the sliced onions. After a minute add in the pepper mixture. Fry for few minutes. Then add seasonings of your choice.

You will know the stew is ready once oil begins to float on top of the stew. 

Now add the fried gizzard, stir for three minutes then add the fried plantain.

Stir and allow to simmer for about two minutes and it's ready!!! Pour on a plate and garnish with onion rings and chopped green pepper.

What do you think? Do your friends and family deserve this treat? Wait no further to give it a go!!!

MACKEREL LOADED GARDEN EGG SAUCE

Garden eggs, a variety of the egg plant is popular as a vegetable snack in a lot of African countries and people eat it on its own or with peanuts/peanut butter.
The sauce is truly beautiful and is popularly eaten with boiled yams, boiled plantains in West Africa. There is also a version that is eaten with swallow meals which we will explore in future.

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INGREDIENTS
15-20 Pieces of Garden Eggs
1-2 Medium Mackerel Cooked/Roasted, deboned and flaked
Onions, chopped
Ata rodo (scotch bonnet peppers)
Spring Onions, sliced
Ground Cray fish, about 2 tbsp
Seasoning cubes
Palm Oil
1 cup of water

*Ingredients can be adjusted for personal preferences, you could use more or less onions, chunky rather than flaked fish, bits of meat, whole dried shrimps and cowskin can also be added for a more robust sauce.

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METHOD

Chop off stalks from your garden eggs and cut into quarters or more for the bigger pieces.

Heat up some palm oil in the pot you want to cook with. 1 cooking spoon of oil or more will be needed as the garden eggs soak up the oil.

Add all your chopped and sliced ingredients beginning with the onions and ending with your garden eggs. Also add your seasoning cube.

*A lot of people would be more familiar with the other cooking method which requires boiling and mashing the garden eggs and other vegetables before frying. This method is just as effective and even faster. Also your vegetables get the opportunity of cooking in the sauce which makes it more flavorful.

Stir fry for a bit and add your ground crayfish. Allow the flavors to combine well.

After simmering for about 5 minutes, add the water and cover so the garden eggs can cook and soften. This should be under 10 minutes.

What do you think? Our garden eggs are all soft and they had the opportunity to absorb more taste since they pretty much cooked in sauce.
At this stage, it can be mashed with your cooking spoon right there in the pot. I like mine a little chunky so I'm not doing much mashing.

Add your mackerel, stir and taste for salt in case you need to add more. Cook for another 5 minutes and it's ready.

I served mine with home made boli/bolé (roasted plantains).
Give it a go and tell us what you think.