Super Bowl is the perfect excuse to get together with family and friends, enjoy a classic American sporting event and of course make the best shareable snacks and platters to enjoy over the hours the football game takes place. Over the last two years, one thing that most people have done is picked up a few new tricks and recipes in the kitchen. If you are looking for new and delicious recipes to serve at the big championship football game this year, try a taste of Ghana with these Suya Chicken Wings and Kelewele. Suya is a meat skewer that is barbecued and covered with a spicy, flavourful peanut seasoning. Growing up, suya to me was simply the seasoning that went over the barbecue meat and not the skewer itself. Therefore in the recipe below, I have come up with my own mixture of spices to make suya seasoning to dress up some oven ‘fried’ chicken wings. The chicken wings are baked but before they are placed in the oven, they are coated in a salt-baking-powder-cornstarch mixture. The wings are allowed to dry in the fridge for several hours to optimise the crispiness of the chicken skin. The second of the two recipes is kelewele a classic ghanainan snack made from very ripe plantains seasoned with numerous spices with the predominant flavour being ginger forward. These are two tasty recipes which are not as difficult as they appear. Check out these Ghanaian recipes you can make to the Super Bowl this year.
Suya Chicken Wings and Kelewele
Ingredients
Oven Fried Chicken
- 3 1/2 pounds of chicken wings cut into drumettes and flats
- 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch
- Lime wedges for serving optional
Suya Seasoning
- 1/4 cup peanut powder OR 1/3 cup of roasted peanuts
- 2 tablespoons ginger powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 6 tablespoons of butter
Kelewele
- 5 ripe plantains with little black spots
- 1/4 white onion roughly chopped
- 3 inch piece of ginger roughly chopped
- 1 or 2 scotch bonnet or habanero peppers
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon bouillon powder or small bouillon Maggi cube optional
- Neutral oil for deep frying
Instructions
Wings
- Prepare Suya Seasoning: Gather all dry spices, peanut powder, ginger powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, chicken bouillon powder and mix in bowl. Store in container until you are ready to make chicken wings.
- If using roasted peanuts, pulse in a food processor and be careful not to pulse too long or it will turn into peanut butter. Add other spices to food processor and pulse until well mixed and store until you are ready to make chicken wings.
- Make Chicken Wings: Using a paper towel, dry your chicken wings and place in a large bowl.
- Add baking powder, cornstarch and salt to chicken and toss thoroughly until chicken wings are completely coated.
- Place on a baking rack (baking sheet below and elevated metal rack on top) and arrange neatly and spaced apart so the wings are not touching.
- Use two racks if you have to.
- Place your rack of coated chicken wings in the fridge uncovered for 6-8 hours. And up to 24 hours. I prefer leaving them in the fridge for 24 hours for dry them out.
- When ready to bake wings, preheat the oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit.
- After the wings have dried out in the fridge, place a baking sheet with wings in the oven on the upper middle rack, cook for 20 minutes, and flip and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, place your butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds until fully melted.
- Coat Chicken Wings: After 35 minutes in the oven, remove chicken wings, place in a large bowl and pour melted butter as well as desired amount of suya seasoning on wings and toss until coated.
- Arrange your coated wings on your rack again and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
- Take wings out of the oven, and serve on a platter. Optional but if you want to balance the fattiness of the wings, butter and peanuts in the suya, squeeze some lime juice over the wings right before serving.
Kelewele
- Using a sharp knife, cut both ends off the plantain. This will make it easy to grab the skin of the plantains. Slit a shallow line down the long seam of the plantain, cut only as deep as the peel. Remove plantain peel by pulling it back
- Cut plantains in half lengthwise and cut each half into small pieces on a diagonal and set aside.
- Pulse onions, scotch bonnet, ginger in a blender or food processor, with just enough water to facilitate blending salt and bouillon (optional). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss the plantain and ginger spice mixture together.
- Let it rest for about 10 to 20 minutes to absorb the flavour.
- Heat up a large skillet or cast iron or wok with neutral oil until hot but not smoking. Depending on the size of your pan, the amount of oil can vary but I prefer to use a wok and fill at least ½ full with oil.
- Fry the plantain cubes in batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan (it will cause the plantains to be soggy and absorb excess oil).
- Transfer the fried plantains to a plate lined with paper towels using a slotted spoon. Serve warm.
