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Placali
Placali: Côte d'Ivoire's glossy, stretchy swallow of soured cassava, made for okra sauce
Abidjan's maquis serve placali in shining grey mounds next to bowls of sauce kopé, the okra sauce that slides off the spoon, and many Ivorians from the lagoon and southern forest regions eat it several times a week. It is made from soured cassava dough dissolved in water, strained and cooked while beaten hard until it becomes a translucent, sticky, stretchy paste. The taste is mildly sour and the texture smooth and elastic, meant to be swallowed rather than chewed. Pair it with okra, palm-nut or leaf sauces. Don't stop stirring once the dough thickens, or raw lumps hide in the swallow. Chef's tip: wet your hands and the serving bowl before shaping, otherwise placali clings to everything it touches.
- Total time
- 35 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ lb fermented cassava doughsold fresh or frozen as placali paste in African grocers
- 5 cups cold water
- 1 pinch salt (optional)
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Crumble the 1 ⅓ lb fermented cassava dough into a bowl, add 800 ml of the 5 cups cold water and squeeze it through your fingers until dissolved into a milky slurry.
5 minStep 2: Pour through a fine sieve into a heavy pot, pressing the dough through; discard the fibres left behind. Skipping the sieve leaves gritty threads in the finished placali.
3 minStep 3: Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 8 minutes until it thickens and starts turning from chalky white to grey and translucent. Add the 1 pinch salt if using.
8 minStep 4: Lower the heat and beat vigorously, pressing the paste against the side of the pot and adding the remaining water a splash at a time if it gets too stiff, for 12–15 minutes until completely translucent, glossy and stretchy, with no opaque white streaks.
14 minStep 5: Wet a bowl and your hands, scoop in portions and turn them out as smooth mounds. Serve hot with okra sauce.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 240 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does placali take?
- About 35 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
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