I love having plantains in the kitchen anytime any day! Honestly, I do because they do make up an ideal side dish or snacks to eat alone or pair up with other main dishes like jollof rice, fried rice etc. Just a few days ago, I ran into some really fresh ripe plantains and I ended up packing as many as I could knowing fully well that I will use them for a couple of times during the week and I am happy I did.
Today, I've decided to share one of the numerous plantain recipes that will definitely interest you ~ kaklo or krakro (plantain balls). This krakro (plantain balls) recipe is the latest addition to my plantain recipe collection and they are a good fit.
Here is a video on how to make krakro (plantain balls)
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Krakro is an amazing Ghanaian snack and whoever initiated that overripe plantains could be mashed up and paired with some baking ingredients is a genius. I am a great plantain fan and can’t end a week or two without at least one plantain. Interestingly, they are quite cheap, nutritious, healthy and tasty.
But sometimes, it can turn out to be a bit of guesswork at the shop or market when faced with loads of plantains at various phases of ripeness especially in terms of how long it will take the green plantains to ripen? are the plantains fully matured? how many do I need at the moment? if I buy many, will they easily get spoilt? should I buy the unripe ones for palatable meal like unripe plantain porridge? should I buy the ripe ones for snacks like kelewele? Countless thoughts in a split seconds.
Sometimes, my instinct rightly guides me through these puzzles of making the right choice however, there are still some rare moments when I get it all wrong. The good thing about plantains is that no matter how they are (unripe, ripe or overripe), they can be converted into some really delectable dishes.
Plantain balls are one of the most amazing things to fry. This recipe begins with a couple of ripe plantains and I used 4 precisely because the snacks taste better when you have loads of plantains in them and that's how I like them anyways. You also need plain flour or self-raising flour, salt, pepper, onion and baking soda. You need baking powder only when you are using plain flour but if you are using self-raising flour then you don’t need that at all.
Then the next step is to blend up the pepper, onion and plantains. Now, all you have to do is just throw all the ingredients together and give them a really good mix. Afterwards, allow the mixture to stay for at least 20 minutes before frying.
To fry kaklo, slightly heat up the vegetable oil and then scoop small portions of the plantain mixture into the oil then allow to fry until golden brown in colour externally and properly done internally. Once done, scoop the krakro out of the oil into a kitchen roll to drain excess oil, allow to cool down before serving. Yummy, absolutely yummy!!!
These krakros (plantain balls) turned out colourfully attractive, soft, flavourful, healthy and perfumed with enough plantain aroma. Besides, they have good texture and are not overly soft. While this recipe may seem strange to some people, I see no reason to abstain from giving it a shot once you have all the ingredients around, especially plantains.
Another quick alternative that just came to mind right now is to substitute the plantains with banana in the absence of plantains but in that case, the snacks will now have to be termed banana balls.
Totally different from the original recipe but then, just play around with what you have very close to you and no doubt you will enjoy these snacks. So grab a couple of plantains and the other ingredients, head over to the kitchen and throw these tempting plantain balls together. They are just good anytime, any day notwithstanding the season. They have sort of spongy texture internally that is often attributed to snacks like buns, cakes etc.
They are full of plantaniiiaaannn yummilicious attributes from some ground-up plantains that mix up well with plain flour to generate some really delicious and captivating krakros. Besides, I never added sugar to these krakros but nothing to worry because you will still get those sweet taste from the plantains.
This suggests why these snacks are on the healthy side. A pinch of salt adds an awesome bit of taste that upgrades the snacks to the next higher level.
Ciao Blessing
Ingredients:
- 4 ripe plantains
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup plain flour
- 100ml water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ small onion
- ½ red pepper
- 800ml vegetable oil for frying
Instructions:
- Add the pepper, onion and water in a blender then blend.
- Peel, cut and add the plantains in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour the blended plantain mixture in a clean bowl.
- Sieve the flour into the mixture, add baking powder and salt then stir properly.
- Cover the bowl with a wrapping film then allow the dough to stand for 20 minutes.
- Slightly heat up the vegetable oil in a saucepan then use a spoon to scoop small portions into the oil.
- Fry until golden colored externally and properly cooked internally.
- Then scoop out the plantain balls from the oil into a kitchen roll to drain excess oil.
- Allow the krakro to cool down before serving.
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