Baked Turmeric Tostones

Recipe: Baked Turmeric Tostones

Baked Turmeric Tostones make an awesomely healthy snack to nibble on for your in between meals hunger pangs. Or serve it as finger food for parties. Whenever I get some green plantains, I like to make baked tostones as opposed to the deep fried ones. Well, fried ones do taste really good but cannot indulge in them often. Enjoy these baked salty and savoury bites any time of the day. The baked ones tasted delicious but I would advise that you have them as soon as they are ready. A few were left and they lost their crunchiness.

What Are Tostones?

Tostones (pronounced as tos-toe-nays) are a popular snack dish in many Caribbean and Latin American parts of the world. Also known as Patacones, the ones sold as street food are fried. Chunks of plantains are fried till just cooked. Then they are smashed and fried again.Prepared in the same manner as the famous Sindhi Aloo Tuk. Tostones are usually served with a garlic sauce called Mojo (pronounced as Mo-ho). You can also serve them with Aji Verde, Mojo Verde, mayo with chipotle, flavoured sour cream, etc.

These days Instagram is flooded with posts by some influencers and chefs claiming that they have innovated kele tuks! Please people! Tostones have existed for eons so give credit where due!

Sharing This Recipe With The Following Groups

FoodieMonday/ Bloghop

The 89th theme way back on 24/04/2017 was Raw Banana, suggested by Kriti who blogs at Krispy Kadhai. I’m not new to raw bananas, plantains or matoke as its called in East Africa. Matoke is a part of the staple diet for many Ugandans. They add it to stew, mash it, fry it, grill it in charcoal fire or boil it.  I decided to make tostones as I had that recipe jotted done for a while. At first I made the fried ones but didn’t manage to take photos. Second time round decided to make them healthier by baking them.

Shhh Secretly Cooking

March 2025 theme is Popular Dishes Around The World suggested by Kalyani Sri who blogs at Sizzling Tastebuds. Priya Srinivasan my partner gave me turmeric and garlic as my secret ingredients. These two worked perfectly well for me to redo the old post on Tostones.  In return I gave her tofu and oat milk. With those ingredients included in her dish she prepared a Vegan Danish Dream Cake. Traditionally this Danish sponge cake is made using eggs.
Republishing an old post on 28/03/2025.

What Are Plantains?

Let us not confuse the normal sweet banana with the raw banana or plantain. Plantain is the cousin of the sweet banana. It has many nutritional values just like the sweet banana. However, you cannot consume plantains in the raw form. Many diet plans replace plantains to make tortillas, cakes, cookies, mash, pizza base etc.The charming thing about plantains is that they are available throughout the year.The reason plantains are a part of the staple diet for many African countries is because it is high in carbohydrates, therefore provides the much needed energy, keeps on fuller for longer periods of time. Plantains are rich in potassium and fiber,rich in Vitamin C.
There are 3 type of raw bananas, plantains or matoke.

• The pulp of the green ones is fairly hard and are starchy and not sweet. Usually one needs to peel them using a knife. The green ones are best for making  plantain chips.
• The yellow plantains are slightly sweet and mature.These plantains are usually fried,boiled, grilled and used in stews or to prepare mash.
• Black plantains in spite of the colour are still good to eat. At this stage they are the sweetest and softest.These are usually used for baking and desserts.