Had enough green plantains yet? Come on, we can never get enough of green plantains. They are versatile and so good. And they are good for you too. Whether you call these fritters, cakes, or accra, you are so going to fall in love with this combination in this form and I bet you will be making it often.
I told you before that there are certain ingredients that I like that I am always looking for new or different ways to use/cook them. High on that list is one of my favourites – green plantains. I have a couple of friends who are gluten intolerant (celiac disease). I have introduced them to various ways in which to cook green plantains, since they were primarily aware of, and familiar, with only ripe plantains. Their heartfelt thanks for the introduction to the ways in which they can cook and eat green plantains, inspire me to search for even more ways to do so.
While searching for green plantain recipes, I came across a video from Dominica dated a year ago for green plantain accra. Accra as you know is the collective name used for fritters, with its roots in Ghanaian cuisine. Here in the Caribbean, we have saltfish accra, cassava accra, Haitian accra, etc. There were several recipes for plantain fritters but what caught my eye about the one from Dominica is that there was no flour in the batter! All the others had flour, some were made with half ripe and ripe plantains. And then there were those that had such little plantain that it did not make sense to call them plantain fritters. I was excited about the recipe from Dominica, more so because it came about from simply “trying a thing”. Here was another way to make fried green plantains, with the added bonus of being gluten free. It made me think of how well we can feed ourselves with local ingredients, regardless of dietary restrictions.
The original recipe did not include saltfish and called for baking powder. The first time I made the fritters, I made it with just the plantains and seasonings. I left out the baking powder because I wanted to know what the texture would be like without it. Turns out that the exclusion of baking powder did not make a difference. The plantains when pureed with a little water made the batter light and fluffy. The crust when cooked was not crunchy, there was a hint of crispness when it was hot. Honestly, if I did not tell you that it was green plantains, you would not know and you won’t be able to tell that there was no flour in the fritter either. It was lovely on its own and even better with lashings of sour and pepper sauce. I even had some with achar.
My gluten-free friends were wide-eyed with enjoyment as they devoured the green plantain fritters. Encouraged by the goodness of these fritters, the following week, I gave them a try with saltfish. Oh. My. Goodness! My Bajan taste testers were wild with excitement. Nikita, one of my gluten intolerant friends hugged me after she had eaten a couple, she said, “Cynthia, I never thought that I would be able to eat fish cakes again, and now I can. Thank you.” Traditional Barbadian fish cakes are made with a flour and saltfish batter.
Just like the plain ones, these fritters are good on their own and they go well with sour, pepper sauce or even achar.
I put a little baking powder in the fritters I made with salt fish thinking that the saltfish might make them heavy. They didn’t so it can be made with or without baking powder.
Ready to make some plantain and saltfish accra/fritters? Here’s what you need to know.
Once the green plantains are peeled, grate them into fine shreds using a box grater. You know the grater has a large-teeth side to shred? Don’t use that side, use the side with the smaller, thinner version of shred. Look at the photograph for a visual reference.
After grating the plantains, add them to a food processor and puree until smooth and fluffy. Add no more than 3 – 4 tablespoons of tap water to whip air into the plantains.
Use seasonings to suit your taste but don’t overdo it. A little bit of fresh thyme is okay as well as celery (the leaves, finely minced). My preference is hot pepper, scallions (green onions) and a little garlic powder along with salt to taste. Mix in the seasonings, do not puree them with the plantains. Season the batter with salt to taste.
The batter when mixed can be left to rest if you like but it is not necessary. The only reason mine was rested was because I had some other things to do.
For the version that includes saltfish, I used a generous amount of saltfish, but use whatever you have. Obviously, de-salt the saltfish using your preferred method leaving it with just enough salt to taste in the fish. Take this into consideration when seasoning the batter.
Do not shred the saltfish in the food processor or pound it either, flake the fish and break it up with your hand/fingers. It is appealing having bits of saltfish in the fritter.
Deep fry the fritters working in batches. Let the oil come back to temperature between each batch (about 2 – 3 minutes each time).
Drop the batter by the tablespoon or use a small scoop. I shaped the one with the saltfish just because I wanted to differentiate the plain ones from the ones with the saltfish.
If using baking powder, I’d recommend 1 teaspoon for 4 grated and pureed plantains.
Try these fritters and let me know how you find them.
Cynthia
