I should have written about Dodo Ikire weeks ago, unfortunately, my over ripened plantains ended up in the bin by accident. My English friend was tidying up the kitchen and he thought my plantains were bad. After all they were black and soft. Typical British mentality. Food looks bad, it belongs to the bin. I remember rushing home and I was excited to make Dodo Ikire. I got out some of the ingredients from the fridge and looked at the empty cart and was wondering what happened to my plantains. When you are expecting to see something where you left it, your brain starts to play funny tricks with your mind. You start to look for it in places you ordinarily wouldn’t. I searched and searched including looking in the dustbin until it hit me, oh my gosh, he threw it away. HE THREW AWAY MY PLANTAINS. I bought the plantains slightly green, so I had to wait a while for it to turn bad, only for it to end up in the bin. There’s nothing more annoying than not being able to vent your anger at someone. Hey, it was an honest mistake, so I had to grit my teeth and buy fresh plantains. This time, I made sure they were almost black so I did not have to wait for too long.
Dodo Ikire, was one of the things that made road trips fun when I was growing up. As soon as we crossed the Lagos-Oyo-Osun border, my siblings and I started getting excited. As soon as we veered off the highway and were approaching the towns, at the first sight of street hawkers, you would see us stretching our necks to see if any of them sold dodo ikire. The minute we spotted one, the screams started. My dad had to force us back into the seat with threats of, “I will drive past now and not stop”. He did not need to say more. Lol. Men and women will surround the car, all of them wanting you to buy their goods. It was almost like a hawker frenzy. From banana’s to oranges, groundnut, gala, bread, you name it. You could eat your fill just by sitting in the car. As soon as dodo ikire was passed to out little hands, we tore off the cellophane wrapping and descended on it, whilst ignoring mummy’s warnings to not soil the seat with palm oil Good, good times. I remember the big yams my mum used to buy on those road trips. Huge pineapples, baskets of tomatoes and pepper, bananas, coconut, Fresh loaves of bread, groundnut, bush meat, onions. I could list for days, because the prices were cheap and the boot will be full. My mum lived for those stops. She had her favourite markets in most towns along the way. She knew where to stop for this and that. No trip out of Lagos was devoid of food shopping. I am sure for many people who read this, you will be nodding your head and smiling with nostalgia.
Well, I am about to rekindle some of those memories. You know this is one of the signatures of this blog. Using food as a medium to unlocking memories of the past. Lol. Dodo Ikire on face value is not appetising. It is dark bordering on black and rough looking. You only need to taste it, to fall in love with it. You know the phrase, do not judge a book by its cover. Nothing describes Dodo Ikire more. Lol. If you were not allowed to buy Dodo Ikire on road trips, big warm hugs for you considering what you’ve missed out on. Here’s your chance to also join in the conversation anytime Dodo Ikire comes up. If like me, you were fortunate enough to enjoy this delicious snack, well here’s your chance too to re-create it in your home.
You will need
2 over ripened plantains – the skin must be black and soft to touch
chopped red onion – about 1/4 cup
the seeds of peppers – you can use chilli, tatashe (red bell pepper) or ata rodo (scotch bonnet/habanero pepper)
2 pieces of ata rodo – scotch bonnet/habanero pepper
Palm oil
Salt
How To
1. Peel the skin off the plantains and chop into small triangles. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: do NOT mash otherwise the dodo ikire will take on the consistency of akara. You don’t want that because dodo ikire is soft and chewy at the same time.
2. Take out the seeds from the ata rodo and set aside. Chop the ata rodo very finely. Dice the onions.
Dooney’s Kitchen tip: you don’t want to chop the onions into chunks, at the same time you don’t want to chop into slivers. You need to find a happy medium for two reasons. 1. too thin and it will burn in the palm oil and taste bitter. Also, too big and it won’t caramelise well enough with the plantains. The picture above would demonstrate the size you will need.
3. Combine the chopped plantains with the seeds, chopped ata rodo, onions and sprinkle in salt to taste. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: mix gently. Remember the plantains are already very soft, so you don’t want it to break down and form a paste.
4. heat up palm oil in a pan till it gets very hot. Using your palm, create a ball about the size that will fit into a tablespoon and drop into the palm oil. Let this fry for 2 – 3 minutes, till you see the edges underneath start to burn.
Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: the reason you do this is to let the plantain fry and hold up its shape. The surface area exposed to direct heat from the palm oil is minimal. The heat from the palm oil spreads by convection to cook the plantain balls and it retains its shape. If you simply emptied the mixture into the oil it will burn in minutes and you don’t want that.
5. Flip the balls over and let the other side fry till it burns slightly. This should take about 1 minute. By now, the outer area of the ball has fried, while the inner layer still a little raw.
6. then you break the ball apart gently to increase surface area exposure to hot palm oil, stir around and let it fry. Gently feel the plantain frying, and you should feel the texture change after a few minutes.
Dodo Ikire is lumpy and soft, with the texture of stretchy candy or more like raisins. You definitely want that result, so at this stage, you don’t want to fry for that much longer otherwise your dodo ikire will take on the consistency of charcoal and it will be bitter too. Yuck!!!!
Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: once you can see most of the plantain as darkened lumps, take it out of the oil and drain excess oil on a kitchen paper towel.
Here’s your delicious Dodo Ikire………..
I just couldn’t resist, I was picking it up and popping in my mouth. Then I realised, shoot, I have to take pictures. Lol. This was all that was left. Covering my face right now. Lol
By the way, Ikire is a town in Osun State. Bless them for bringing this yummy snack to the world. Lol.
God bless you for this dunni.Am sure trying this out soonest
Please do o. Dodo Ikire is a joy to taste
No more plantain in the bin for me. I’m glad I finally found the proper way to make this.
Yes o. You are welcome
Where are my manners???! Thank you!! 😀
Lol
Trying this tonight! No longer tossing my overripe plaintains.. thank you 🙂
You are welcome Buks. Waste not, want not. Also try the Mosa recipe. That’s another nice way to enjoy overripe plantains, and it is a great breakfast option
love dodo ikire too much, I will make this today by force by fire Thanks Dooneyrooney.
That’s the spirit. Lol
Goodness me Dooney, what a taste, huumm delicious.
With this lesson I learnt from you, I can surely thrill my family and let them feel the taste of one of Nigerian’s recipes.
I’ll always check out your recipes.
Thank you so much.
best regards from Paris.
Tunde
Thank you Tunde for your comments. Please let me know how the other recipes that you try turn out
Wiping drool off keyboard…looking at you one kain…eyeing my ripe plantain two kains….
ROTFLMAO. Please don’t look at me one kain o. Just leave your ripe plantains and let them get black. Trust me, dodo ikire is worth the wait. You make it once and you will be begging your plantains to over ripen
I could kiss you right now! I was just thinking of what to do with 2 over-ripened plantains I have in the kitchen and I thought of mosa and dodo ikire and then I found you..ooohhhh I could cry. Thanks! I will be plating this up on Christmas day and I love photography too :).
Oooooh, nice. Please plate it and send me an email. I always love seeing pictures from readers
Wow girl u do rock. Am doing to the kitchen and am trying this now! You r a blessing x
Yaaaaay, please let me know how it turns out
I mean am going! Lol
You sure do rock my world! Was clearing the fridge and kitchen of things to throw out (Friday is Bin collection) when i came across my 4 overripe plantain. Threw one in d bin then it hit me…gbosa.. you silly girl, why throw away when you can dodo ikire me. lol.
Didn’t know how to make it and it hit me again…Dooneys kitchen!!! God bless you my Ijebu sister. Waiting for them to ripen further and i shall Dodo ikire those plantains.lmao
Thanks for the recipe…you are the best.
I just love happy kitchen accidents. Save those plantains mehn, dodo ikire is an experience you will never forget. You can also try making Masa with the over ripe plantains. You will love, love it. Recipe here:http://www.dooneyskitchen.com/2013/07/23/mosa-ghanian-tatale-and-lemony-palm-oil-vegetable-sauce/
I’ve eaten this maybe just like twice in my life. And that’s like over two decades now. I decided to give it a go. I don’t think I nailed it like I see in your picture so I got upset and just tossed it in the fridge. Hunger came knocking unexpectedly the next day and I found myself reaching for gari and dodo ikire and couldn’t believe how yummy it was in spite of me not thinking I got it right. It did have a bit of raisin-like texture to it though.
Thanks for over ripe plantain solution. I plan on trying the masa with my next batch of over ripe plantain. I’ve tried Terry’s plantain coconut fritter and that was yummy too. You all rock I tell you
It is actually supposed to have a raisin like texture, so you got it right. I hope you do great next time
Thanks Dooney, so yummy. Googled overriped plantain few minutes ago and I’m munching righaway…
You are welcome Seyi. Happy to help
was looking for what to do with my over ripe plantains, know mosa but then how many can my husband and i consume? so i thought to myself “love dont disturb yourself Dunni must have something for you and voila! As a foodie who can complain about other people”s food here’s me saying thanks Dunni you rock.
This looks so interesting and delicious unfortunately it’s an assignment to find out how to make it….Thank u it was really helpful….I hope one day I could make it…xoxo