Kelewele
Spiced, cubed ripe plantain deep-fried in palm oil — Ghana's favorite spicy street snack.
Ingredients
- •Very ripe plantains
- •Ginger
- •Cayenne pepper
- •Anise seeds
- •Cloves
- •Salt
- •Palm oil or vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
Prepare plantain
Peel very ripe (black) plantains and cut into cubes or irregular chunks.
Marinate
Mix grated ginger, cayenne, ground anise seeds, cloves, and salt. Toss plantain in the spice mix and let sit 10 minutes.
Fry
Fry spiced plantain in hot oil for 4–5 minutes until golden and caramelized with slightly crispy edges.
Drain and serve
Drain on paper and serve immediately, ideally with roasted groundnuts.
Kelewele is Ghana's most popular street food snack — sweet, ripe plantain cubes marinated in a fragrant spice mix of ginger, cayenne, anise, and cloves, then fried until caramelized and golden. The combination of the plantain's natural sweetness with the heat and spice of the marinade creates an addictive contrast that has made kelewele one of the most universally loved snacks in Ghana.
Kelewele vendors set up at night markets, roadside stalls, and bus stations, frying fresh batches to order in large woks of hot oil. The smell of spiced frying plantain draws crowds. It is typically served in a newspaper cone alongside roasted groundnuts — the neutral crunch of the peanuts playing off the sweet-spicy plantain perfectly.
The key to exceptional kelewele is the ripeness of the plantain: they must be completely ripe (skins fully black) so that the natural sugars have fully developed. Under-ripe plantain will be starchy and lack the sweetness that makes kelewele special. The spice blend varies slightly from vendor to vendor, with some adding nutmeg, onion, or additional pepper varieties.