Plantain Cakes and Aubergine, Chickpea Stew

My friends Jo and George had me over for dinner on Friday night and cooked me plantain and aubergine. It was so delicious that I've been thinking about them ever since.

A trip to Brixton market got me 3 plantains for a quid and Sainsbury's provided the rest. I've never cooked with it before and was a little nervous so I tweeted for some recipe ideas. @Cornwallcats sent me the most simple and amazing recipe I've ever seen! I changed it a bit (I just can't help myself) to give it a bit of spice but it's still really, really easy to make.

I did an aubergine and chickpea stew to go with it, I'll post the recipe for that too as they both worked really well together.

Plantain Cakes

• 3 plantain
• 1 tbsp sweetener/sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tbsp soy butter/oil for frying
• A few drops of Tabasco sauce

1. Chop the ends off the plantain and boil in a large pan of water for around 20 minutes, until soft. Drain.
2. When the plantain is cooled, peel, chop into smaller pieces and mash.
3. Mash in the sweetener/sugar and baking powder and shape the mixture into 8 small balls.
4. Heat the soy butter/oil in a frying pan and fry for a few minutes on each side until golden. Add a few drops of Tabasco, fry for a wee bit longer and then serve.

Aubergine and Chickpea Stew

• 1 large aubergine, chopped into bitesize pieces
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 5 small cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half
• Oil, for frying
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin of chickpeas
• 200ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp pepper

1. Fry the aubergine in about 1 tbsp of oil for 7-10 minutes, until soft and slightly brown. Put in a container to one side
2. Fry the onion and garlic in a little more oil (I used a few tsp), stirring constantly for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent and soft.
3. Add the chickpeas and continue to stir for another 5 minutes
4. Add the aubergine, tomatoes, water and spices.
5. Simmer for 45 minutes - 1 hour