Plantain porridge is a dish eaten by a majority of Africans. This recipe usually calls for unripe plantain. But as someone who is not a big fan of unripe plantain, I decided to purchase ripe plantains because I truly believe it gives this dish way more flavor.
Yam porridge is another substitute for plantain porridge that a lot of Nigerians opt for more frequently. The steps to prepare yam porridge is very similar to that of plantain porridge, so if you can succeed at making this dish, you should be okay preparing yam porridge.
Palm oil is a major key ingredient for this recipe because the palm oil adds a rich authentic flavor to the overall dish. Often times, when palm oil is not available, one may opt for stew oil. But I personally find stew oil to be a poor substitute for palm oil, so I will advise you to stick to regular palm oil.
Related: Coconut Rice Recipe
To make this plantain porridge dish even more flavorful, I would recommend adding some smoked turkey and crayfish during preparation. Each time I prepare this dish with smoked turkey (which is pretty much all the time) I often find myself longing for more. If you don’t have smoked turkey in your area, not to worry, smoked fish should work well too. However, I would only recommend that you use smoked fish if you do decide to use unripe plantain porridge or yam.
While preparing this recipe, it’s important you add enough water to cook the plantain. I suggest adding enough quantity of water to cover the plantain when you’re about to boil it in the sauce. You don’t want your plantain coming out very hard, so make sure you give it more time to cook. However, be careful not to add too much water so your porridge doesn’t end up very mushy.
I promise you guys would love this dish. I made it twice within the same week and couldn’t get enough of it. I’m hoping to make another batch soon because this delicacy can never get too old.
Let me know in the comments if you guys try this dish.
Similar Post: Baked Homemade plantain chips recipe
Plantain Porridge Recipe
Plantain Porridge Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 plantains - ripe and cut into chunks
- 1 onion - diced
- 2 lbs turkey - (smoked turkey tails), cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp palm oil - substitute with olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 Maggi cubes
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp oregano
- ½ tsp curry
- 3 habanero peppers - Chopped, with seeds removed (use more or less depending on your spice preference)
- 1 tbsp crayfish - blended
- 2 cups water
Blended Pepper Mixture
- 2 onion - Cut into chunks for easy blending
- 2 red bell pepper - Cut into chunks for easy blending
Instructions
Pepper Mixture
- Add in your onions and red bell peppers to a blender and blend until you obtain a smooth consistency. Then set aside.
Main dish
- To a medium-sized pot on medium heat, add in your palm oil and red onions. Fry until onion redness starts to fade
- Add in your smoked turkey, salt, Maggi cubes, ground pepper, curry, oregano, habanero peppers, crayfish, and stir.
- Add in the blended mixture, then stir and cook for about 10-15 minutes
- Add-in your diced plantain and about 2 cups of water and cook for 30 minutes.
- Once the plantain is tender, combine well and serve
