Tatale (Plantain Pancakes)

Ghanian Tatale, spiced fried plantain pancakes that are crispy, sweet, & savory and are great for breakfast and as a snack. 

Plantains are one vegetable that I always keep stocked in my pantry. I just love them so much, and they’re the perfect accompaniment to my favorite rice dishes like jollof and rice and peas. With my last trip to the farmers market I went overboard with my purchasing of plantains, and suddenly had all these overly ripe plantains that I desperately needed to get rid of. Regularly I would just slice the plantains up and fry them, but I had been doing that for the past two weeks and wanted a change so I made these tatales.

The first time I ever made these tatales was a few years ago. I wanted to do something different with plantains so I googled a few recipes and stumbled on this one. One of my best friends who happens to be Ghanaian guided me on the ingredients and taste, and I of course ended putting my own spin on it. If you’re a fan of sweet, fried plantains then you will absolutely love this recipe. The cakes are made with plantains that are ripened, black, and almost to the brink of tossing. This is where the sweetness comes from!

The plantains are peeled and removed from the skin (please don’t eat the skin!!), and then mashed; like you’re making banana bread. From there I add some freshly grated ginger, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper for seasoning. I then added cornmeal and chopped scallions, and here comes the non-traditional ingredient, milk. Milk isn’t traditionally added; I just found that the batter was too thick for my liking. To thin it out milk made the most sense to me.

These plantain pancakes are best served hot with beans and stew. You can also eat them on their own as a snack. I made a cumin lime sour cream dipping sauce (sour cream with a teaspoon of cumin and a tablespoon of lime juice mixed up) to eat with them and it was delicious!! 

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Tatale (Plantain Pancakes)

Yield: 4-6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients

• 4 large overly ripe plantains, peeled
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 scallions chopped
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 tbsp milk

Instructions

1. Mash the plantains with a potato masher in a large bowl until you reach a pureed consistency.
2. Add the cornmeal, milk, salt, garlic, ginger, and cayenne pepper to the mashed plantains. Stir in the scallions until fully combined.
3. Heat a skillet with 3 tablespoons of canola oil over medium heat.
4. Use a medium sized ladle to pour the plantain batter into the skillet.
5. Fry each side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Makes 8-10 cakes.
7. Serve immediately.