Fried Plantain with Poulet DG (Director General) is a super flavorful African meal featuring fried plantains, chicken, and vegetables in a tasty herb sauce inspired by French cuisine. Fancy and delicious, this dish is traditionally reserved for special occasions.
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My beloved Cameroonian dish isn’t just any chicken dish; this one is for special guests. Cameroonians (my peeps) call this the ultimate chicken dish because it’s so much better than other chicken meals. This one-dish meal is bite-sized chunks of chicken smothered in a flavorful herb sauce and then paired with vegetables and topped with crispy fried plantains. Oui, merci!
Recipe Ingredients
- Plantains – Anyone who lives in the tropics understands the importance of plantains. You Northerners have your potatoes, and we have cassava and plantains.
- Chicken – While I really love thighs, you can use any boneless chicken you have on hand.
- Herbs – Onion, garlic, fresh parsley, basil, celery, and, honestly, whatever fresh herbs you have on hand (oregano, thyme, you name it) make the sauce absolutely drool-worthy.
- Vegetables – Carrots, bell peppers, and green beans were my pick for this recipe, but you can use what you’ve got.
How to Make Fried Plantains with Poulet DG
- Grind the onion, garlic, and herbs in a food processor until they make a paste.
- Season the chicken with salt, white pepper, and a couple of tablespoons of herb paste. Set aside and let it marinate.
- Sauté the chicken until it’s beautifully golden, remove from the pan, and set aside.
- Add in the rest of the herb paste, tomatoes, and paprika. You can pour in a little chicken broth if it starts sticking.
- Throw the vegetables into the mix; let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Turn off the stove. Now, for the plantains!
How to Fry Plantains
- Peel the plantain and slice it into 1-inch rounds. Then fry them in about ½ inch of oil until golden. Drain.
- When ready to serve this amazing dish, stir in the fried plantains and serve immediately.
Tips & Tricks
- Chicken and vegetables are obviously good for you. But did you know plantains are high in potassium, magnesium, and vitamin A, C, and B6? So go ahead and add plantains to your diet!
- This recipe doesn’t have any heat, so if you want to spice things up a bit, feel free to throw in a Scotch bonnet or habanero.
- The fried unripe plantain goes in immediately before serving to retain its crunchiness. This is how I do it: cook everything and wait until everyone is ready, then fry the plantains. It sure makes a difference because it tastes 100% better when hot.
- Plantains are great green or ripe, so it depends on how sweet you want them. When people see black plantains, they tend to think they’re rotten; however, that’s when they’re the sweetest.
More Plantain Recipes to Try
Gizdodo (Gizzards and Plantains)
Tatale (African Plantain Pancakes)
I know this is a special occasion recipe, but it’s so easy to make; why should we wait? And it’s the perfect recipe to celebrate Black History Month, so go for it!
Participant List
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Sweet Potato Wedges with Peanut Dipping Sauce by Big Delicious Life
Sweet Potato Biscuits by Black Girls Who Brunch
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Vegan Coconut Cake with Lime Glaze by Chenée Today
Fried Green Tomato BLT by Coined Cuisine
Shrimp Po’ Boy Salad by Collards Are The Old Kale
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Fish Patties with Pontchartrain Sauce by Dude That Cookz
Stuffed Shrimp & Grit Collard Green Rolls by Fior
Spicy Berbere Lentil Chili by Flights and Foods
Sankofa Bowl w/ Suya Duck Breast by Food Fidelity
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Smothered Okra & Tomatoes by Kenneth Temple
Brown Butter Sombi – Coconut Rice Puddng Brulee by Meiko And The Dish
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Mango Cake and Coconut Cream by Sims Home Kitchen
Sous Vide Ox Tail with Coconut Rice by Sweet Tea + Thyme
Yam Gnocchi served with Oxtail Peppersoup by The Food Disciple
Brown Butter Brulé Bean Pie by The Queen of Yum
Black Eyed Pea And Cornbread by The Vgn Way
Fried Plantains with Poulet DG
Ingredients
Poulet DG
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1½ cup fresh herbs (parsley, celery, basil, etc.)
- 1-1½ pounds boneless chicken, cut into small chunks
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil (butter and olive oil work, too)
- 2-3 fresh tomatoes, diced
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ cup chicken broth (optional)
- 1 pound vegetables (carrots, green beans, green pepper, etc.)
Fried Plantains
- 1 ripe plantain
- Oil for frying (Lard it awesome if you have it!)
Instructions
Poulet DG
- Blend the onions, garlic, and fresh herbs in a food processor or blender into a rough paste.
- Salt and pepper your chicken, and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of the herb blend to the chicken. Set aside. (You may do this step ahead of time and let it marinate.)
- Preheat a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium-high heat.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil to the pot. Add the chicken, sauté for about 5-7 minutes chicken, turning once, until golden brown on both sides—transfer chicken to a plate.
- Dump the rest of the herb mixture, tomatoes, and paprika into the pot, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, occasionally stirring, for 8-10 minutes. Add about ½ a cup of chicken stock if it gets too dry.
- Mix the carrots, green beans, and green peppers into the pot; let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Turn off the stove.
Fried Plantains
- Using a sharp knife, cut both ends off of the plantain. That will make it easy to grab the skin of the plantains. Slit a shallow line down the long seam of the plantain; peel only as deep as the peel. Remove plantain peel by pulling it back.
- Cut plantains into round slices about an inch thick.
- Heat a large, heavy-bottomed or cast-iron skillet with oil about ½ inch deep on medium-high until hot but not smoking.
- Fry the plantain rounds until golden brown, set aside until you’re ready to serve the meal, then toss them in with the chicken and vegetables.
- Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- The fried unripe plantain goes in immediately before serving to retain its crunchiness. This is how I do it: cook everything and wait until everyone is ready, then fry the plantains. It sure makes a difference because it tastes 100% better when hot.
- Plantains are great green or ripe, so it depends on how sweet you want them. When people see black plantains, they tend to think they’re rotten; however, that’s when they’re the sweetest.
Christine Elvira
Sunday 12th of March 2023
First of all Poulet DG is a Cameroonian dish. The chicken is seasoned with Cameroon spices and the way it’s cooked and presented is different from what I can read here.
Carolyn VandeWiele
Tuesday 15th of February 2022
Do you really cut the Plantain in to inch thick slices, the photos look more like a third to half and inch
Imma
Tuesday 15th of February 2022
Hi Carolyn! It all depends on the individual, I cut various depending on the type of plantains I buy. For a crispier plantains cut into a third of an inch . Hope this helps.