Food Of The Day- Plantain Porridge

Nigerian Plantain Porridge dish

Nigerian Plantain Porridge is a rich meal that all plantain lovers will surely enjoy. It can be prepared with either ripe or unripe plantains or a combination of both. Even if you're not a plantain lover, you should give this meal a try, because plantains are rich in fiber, minerals(potasium, magnesium, iron, phosphorous) and Vitamins(A, B6  and C).

 The green plantains is said to contain more healing properties than the ripened ones, but all the same, they are both okay for this recipe. Plantains, also known as plátanos, are closely related cultivars of fruit or dessert banana. In general, they treated as vegetables in the kitchen much like fellow tropical produces such as potatoes, taro, breadfruit, yam, sweet
potatoes, etc. Indeed, they are one of the staple sources of carbohydrates for larger populations in Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Central Americas for centuries, served in main courses.

As in bananas, plantain too belong to the Musaceae family. It was thought to have developed in the nature by hybridization of two wild species of Muscaceae, Musa acuminata Colla (AA) and M. balbsiana Colla (BB), and consist of chromosomal triploid AAB genome. Raw green plantains can only eaten after cooking. Each fruit measures about 3 to 10 inches or more in length depending upon the cultivar type. They tend to have coarser external features with prominent edges and flat surfaces unlike smooth, rounded contour of dessert bananas. The flesh inside is rich in starch, with tiny edible black seeds concentrated at its core. Ripening process, however, enhances flavor and sweetness since much of its starch converts to sugar, similar to as in the case of fruit bananas but to a lesser extent.

Plantain flower (inflorescence) as well as its interior stem too are eaten in various kinds of recipes in South-Asian regions.

Sources: Nutritionandyou.com

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