I just hate throwing away food, but sometimes I have to. I wish recipes would just work out on the first try, surprise surprise, they don’t! It takes a couple of tries to get it perfect. However, if there is one food that I hate throwing out it’s plantains, I just love them – one of my all time favorite side dishes. I know you have heard me say this a lot, but I just do – fried, grilled and baked are my favorite ways of enjoying them.
So, I can’t help it when shopping for plantains, I pile them on – especially when I see the big, round, plump ones (yes, they do have skinny plantains). I’m always certain of what I would love to use them for, then I get forgetful and before I know it, the plantains are dark, start looking ugly and squishy – sometimes even start to give off a funky smell. Recently, I have been on the look out for ways to use plantains.
Here is a really good way to make use of them. It doubles up as side dish or snack and can be savory or made into a sweet treat. In the recipe, I used brown rice. Why? Because I wanted to use up a 25-pound bag of brown rice hubby bought because he read some report on the news about consuming brown rice. After giving it a try he says, it doesn’t taste quite right. What’s a girl to do? Adding the rice in these plantain fritters gives it texture and makes it somewhat sturdy enough to withstand the frying – it makes them crusty on the outside and dense inside. For a light plantain fritter you can use oatmeal flour, cornmeal and any other flour or trying using less flour. When I’m making a sweet snack, I usually go for oatmeal or whole wheat flour, then add nutmeg, cinnamon and about a ½ teaspoon of vanilla. This one is more of a side dish that you can pair with any meal or eat as a snack – savory and sweet. Flavored with garlic, onions, cayenne pepper, and parsley. You can make your own ground rice by using a coffee grinder. Do not over do it with the coffee grinder, it will burn the engine. I let my son help me with the grinding and he killed the coffee grinder. Luckily, I can pick up another one online and get it in less than no time. Make sure to test out the fritters by frying one, and then adjust ingredients to taste, before frying the remainder of the batch. You may use a spoon or your hands if the balls are too soft to form a ball. Serve this with this pepper sauce here or with these beans here. These are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Fresh off the pan, the crunch is crackling – it fades as it cools down. So best enjoyed hot or warm. Enjoy! [adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”qW2RqGMt” upload-date=”2019-05-07T05:54:25.000Z” name=”Plantain Fritters (Klako)” description=”Plantain Fritters – Crusty on the outside and dense inside made with overly ripe plantains, brown rice and spices. Gluten free, paleo and vegan side dish.”]
