Fried Plantain is one of the easiest and fast Nigerian food recipes. It can also be grilled; boiled, dehydrated and pulverized, sweet or savory, a staple of Nigerian cuisine.

Dodo (has no relation to the bird bearing the same name!), as it is called in Yoruba, refers to fried sweet plantains.

It is also a key side dish to all the rice recipes and can be enjoyed by people from all over the world.

Fried plantain / Dodo – How to Pick the Perfect Plantain

For the plantains to caramelize as it should be, use ripe plantains (the skin should be deep yellow and spotted with large black dots).

If you can find only green plantains, you can seal them in a paper bag and let them ripen for 2 – 3 days.

Cooking the plantains in hot oil brings out their caramelized sweetness.

The aroma and sight of frying plantain is one of life’s unassuming pleasures and it gets me always.

You can enjoy the golden-brown goodness of dodo with any breakfast meal like egg and as a snack.

Fried plantain (Dodo) Recipe

Ingredients

4 large ripe plantains (yellowish red colored)

Salt

Vegetable oil (enough for deep frying)

Directions

Firstly, put oil in a pan and heat on medium Then, while oil is heating, slice your plantain – on the diagonal, in rounds or diced. Salt if you like. Thirdly, to check the readiness of your oil, put a slice of fresh onion. Once it browns, the oil is hot enough. Then, gently lower the plantain slices in and fry. Fourthly and most importantly, when the underside is brown, turn over and let the other side brown till pieces are golden all over Lastly, remove from heat, and place the fried plantains in colander/sieve to drain

Serve on its own – with scrambled eggs for breakfast, or with a tomato sauce or with any rice recipes.