Alloco, as it’s called in Côte d’Ivoire, is a popular West African snack made from fried plantains. You can find it in Nigeria under the name Dodo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo under Makemba and in Ghana under Kelewele.

It’s considered fast food and sold in the streets of Côte d’Ivoire, where it’s often served with onions and chili pepper.

Ingredients

For the Alloco:

• 6 large ripe plantains
• 1/2 cup (355ml) peanut or coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the Pili Pili (Sauce de Piment):

• 1/2 cup (120ml) peanut or coconut oil
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium sized onion, roughly chopped
• 3-4 chili peppers (45g), sliced
• 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped into big chunks
• 1/2 cup (115g) tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon of vinegar

Directions

Preparing the Sauce de Piment:

1. Take a large stockpot over medium-high heat, then add your oil.
2. Once the oil is heated, add onions and garlic. Mix and cook together for 3-4 minutes as onions start to sweat.
3. Add carrot and chili peppers, and stir in for 1 minute.
4. Add tomato paste, paprika, water, oregano, salt, pepper, cayenne, and parsley. Mix well through rest of ingredients until everything is nice and combined.
5. Once everything is mixed, add in bay leaf and vinegar and mix through. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover stockpot and let everything sit for 20 minutes.

 

Frying your Alloco:

1. While sauce is simmering, take another deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Add coconut oil and melt until you have a nice layer of oil covering the bottom.
2. Add plantains and fry for 5-6 minutes on each side as they become nice and golden brown. The outside will become crispy and hardened, it’s a good thing.
3. Remove plantains from the oil once both sides have fried and place on plate lined with paper towel (to absorb excess oil). Sprinkle Alloco with a little salt just for good measure.

 

Finishing the Sauce:

1. Once all Alloco are done, take stockpot off the heat and transfer sauce ingredients to a food processor.
2. Process ingredients until you get a nice pureed sauce that can be spread over your Alloco.

 

Bon appétit! Enjoy!