Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in the 2022 series of BBC TV’s Masterchef competition.

Every Saturday Yemi writes on the Stray Ferret about her love of the area’s food and shares cooking tips – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

Social media is the perfect playground for making things go viral especially food. It is fascinating to see food from across many parts of the world from Amish cooking to the best restaurants in the world showcasing food at the highest level.

The internet has become the perfect playground for food lovers and I am loving seeing people delve into foreign cuisines and enjoy new flavours with many learning how to cook the dishes from other cultures.

Harrogate is fast catching up with the influx of new cuisines including Afghan and Syrian kitchens covered in my previous posts. 

The takeaway scene is also growing with new Indian and more recently an Afro-Caribbean Takeaway available on Deliveroo.  

Afro-Caribbean covers a wide remit so I was keen to understand the dishes they offered. 

Jacqueline Norman originally trained as a nurse but left the career to focus on her life long passion of cooking, something she did with her mother since the age of seven. 

Having previously lived in St Kitts & Nevis, West Indies, I know there are differences between cuisines of the Islands and Africa is a continent made up of 54 countries so when I hear African or Afro cuisine my food antennas are tuned in wanting to know more about where in Africa the food inspiration actually comes from.

JnJ specialises mostly in Ghanian dishes including Jollof rice, a few Nigerian dishes, snacks including meat pies and puff-puff, and two Caribbean dishes comprising of the well known and loved Jerk chicken and rice and peas not to be confused with green peas.

There are similarities in cuisines amongst neighbouring African countries due to cross border business and personal relationships. This is why there is the rivalry between Ghana, Nigerian and Senegalese Jollof rice with competitions as to who makes the best Jollof rice.

A common ingredient across West Africa is Plantain which comes in the green unripe or yellow ripe versions. Plantains can be roasted, boiled or fried and often sold as a street food across all West African countries. Roasted plantain is served with roasted peanuts as a local delicacy in Nigerian. Ghana also pairs plantain with peanut as a flavour combination.

So I wasn’t surprised to see Plantain on JnJ’s takeaway menu in the form of Ghanian kelewele which is spiced fried plantain, a famous street food served widely across many regions in Ghana.

It can be served as a side dish, as a snack paired with roasted peanut or on its own. Kelewele is made using ripe plantain but some people prefer to use over-ripe plantain making it sweeter and resulting in a softer texture.

A common ingredient across West Africa is Plantain which comes in the green unripe or yellow ripe versions. Plantains can be roasted, boiled or fried and often sold as a street food across all West African countries. Roasted plantain is served with roasted peanuts as a local delicacy in Nigerian. Ghana also pairs plantain with peanut as a flavour combination.

So I wasn’t surprised to see Plantain on JnJ’s takeaway menu in the form of Ghanian kelewele which is spiced fried plantain, a famous street food served widely across many regions in Ghana.

It can be served as a side dish, as a snack paired with roasted peanut or on its own. Kelewele is made using ripe plantain but some people prefer to use over-ripe plantain making it sweeter and resulting in a softer texture.

Here is Jackie’s Kelewele recipe.

Prep time: 12 minutes Cook time: 7 minutes

Cuisine: Ghanaian Course: Snack

Ingredients

4 ripe plantains

¼ onion chopped

3 inch piece of ginger or ginger powder

3 pieces of cloves

2 pieces of garlic

1 scotch bonnet pepper

¼ tablespoon salt or adjust to taste

Oil for frying

Instructions

• Using a knife slit a shallow line down the seam of the plantain. Cut and peel

• Cut plantain lengthwise and across, dice into even sized cubes

• Blend, scotch bonnet, onion, cloves, ginger all together

• Pour mixture into a bowl and add chopped plantain with the salt

• Allow it to stand for about 5 mins

• Heat up oil in a shallow frying pan; fill about half way

• Fry plantains in batches until brown for about 5 mins

• Transfer fried plantain to a plate lined with paper towel to dry

• Serve immediately as a snack or with rice. It will make a great topping for hummus.

Plantains are now available in Harrogate in a few local stores so be sure to give this recipe a try. And if you would like to try out Ghanian cuisine, then check out JnJ Afro-Caribbean menu. 

Here is Jacqueline's Kelewele recipe:

Prep time: 12 minutes 

Cook time: 7 minutes

Cuisine: Ghanaian Course: Snack

Ingredients: 

4 ripe plantains

¼ onion chopped

3 inch piece of ginger or ginger powder

3 pieces of cloves

2 pieces of garlic

1 scotch bonnet pepper

¼ tablespoon salt or adjust to taste

Oil for frying

Instructions: 

• Using a knife slit a shallow line down the seam of the plantain. Cut and peel

• Cut plantain lengthwise and across, dice into even sized cubes

• Blend, scotch bonnet, onion, cloves, ginger all together

• Pour mixture into a bowl and add chopped plantain with the salt

• Allow it to stand for about 5 mins

• Heat up oil in a shallow frying pan; fill about half way

• Fry plantains in batches until brown for about 5 mins

• Transfer fried plantain to a plate lined with paper towel to dry

• Serve immediately as a snack or with rice. It will make a great topping for hummus.

Plantains are now available in Harrogate in a few local stores so be sure to give this recipe a try. And if you would like to try out Ghanian cuisine, then check out JnJ Afro-Caribbean menu on Deliveroo.