Plantain Pancakes

Ingredients

• 4 over-ripe plantains, peeled
• ½ scotch bonnet chilli, deseed if you wish
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 2cm/1 inch fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
• 280g/10oz plain flour or ground rice
• salt to season
• oil to shallow fry

Method

1. Place the ingredients in a blender and whizz to form a batter (drop-scone consistency). Set aside in a fridge until you are ready to fry.
2. Heat a large frying pan and add a little oil. Pour half-cups of batter into the pan to form individual pancakes and cook over a moderate heat until bubbles appear.
3. Carefully turn the pancakes over with a palette knife and fry for a further couple of minutes until cooked through, pressing and flattening the pancake with the back of a spatula. Transfer to absorbent kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the rest.
4. Serve with stewed bambara beans or black-eye beans and they are just as tasty with tinned baked beans.
5. Try frying a spoonful first, adjusting seasoning and consistency as necessary, then continue with the batch.
6. Alternatively tip the mix from step 1 into a greased loaf tin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200oC/fan 180oC/375oF/gas 6 for about 40 minutes to make a simple savoury cake. Serve with peanuts.
7. To make kakro (plantain balls) add a little more ground rice to the mix to thicken and then form egg-size balls and deep fry.