Ghanaian Plantain and Beans

15 mins Prep Time

35 mins Cook Time

Written By

Nadia Boachie

Plantain and beans, also known as "Red Red," is a popular dish in several West African countries. Being Ghanaian, I ate this a lot growing up. This dish is essentially stewed black-eyed peas with fried plantains. It is very delicious and makes for a great lunch or dinner. Meal prepping with this dish is also super easy and it reheats well!

You can grab plantain at your local grocery store but make sure to let it ripen fully, so it is no longer green. I prefer my fried plantain just ripe, but others prefer it sweeter and softer after frying and this requires leaving the plantain until black spots begin to form.

The stewed beans are traditionally made with palm nut oil extracted from the palm fruit and not to be confused with palm kernel oil extracted from the seed. This palm oil usually gives the beans their traditional, red-orangey-yellow hue. Palm-nut oil can be hard to come by, so I have substituted regular vegetable oil and chili oil to try and attain a more red colour in this recipe. A tablespoon of dried fish powder can also be added to this recipe to add to the flavour but I have decided to keep it vegan. As you may have guessed from the name based on its components, it is called "Red Red" because of the reddish plantain and the beans.

Ingredients

Beans

4 large tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, roughly chopped or sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup red chili oil
2 chilies (optional)
Salt, to taste
1 small veggie bouillon cube or 1 1/2 teaspoons of bouillon powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 -1 Scotch bonnet pepper (depending on spice tolerance)
2 cans (approximately 900 grams) black-eyed peas (drained and rinsed)

Plantains

4 very ripe plantains
Vegetable oil (for deep frying)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Ghanaian Plantain and Beans

12 Steps

Step 1

Heat both vegetable oil and chili oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
Step 2

Add onion, garlic, ginger, chilies and Scotch bonnet and cook gently until the onion is translucent.
Step 3

Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook.
Step 4

Add bouillon cube, salt and pepper and stir well. Adjust seasoning to your taste as you cook.
Step 5

Cook at medium heat for about 20 minutes.
Step 6

If you are happy with the taste of the stew/sauce, add the drained canned beans, reduce the heat and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
Step 7

Stirring occasionally to make sure everything is well incorporated, cook until the beans are tender and the stew is a thick consistency.
Step 8

Place the sliced plantain in a medium bowl, add a little salt and toss together to ensure the plantain is evenly salted.
Step 9

Preheat a deep fryer or a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven filled 3/4 of the way full with vegetable oil to 180°C.
Step 10

Fry the plantains in batches, leaving enough room for the slices to fry evenly. Once the first side of the plantains turn golden brown, flip the slices over to brown the other side.
Step 11

Remove plantains onto a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat step above for frying the remaining plantain.
Step 12

To serve, scoop bean stew onto plate and top with fried plantains.