If you are looking for a great recipe for how to make irresistible gizdodo, this is it!
1. How to Make Gizdodo
Gizdodo is like a beautiful marriage of fried ripe plantain, fried gizzard and pepper sauce. The key to making the perfect gizdodo is ensuring you season each of the components properly, and also ensuring you get the proportion of plantain/gizzard/sauce right. This article will provide step by step guidance on how to make gizdodo.
I personally like to have an equal proportion of plantain to gizzard, with just enough sauce to coat both the plantain and gizzard.
Traditionally, ripe plantains and pre-boiled gizzard are deep-fried in oil, before they are simmered in pepper sauce. For me, the best part about the recipe I will be sharing is that the plantain and gizzard are air-fried – so technically it’s a healthier gizdodo recipe. However, if you would like to learn how to make gizdodo using a more traditional recipe, head on over to Chef Lola’s Kitchen. She has an amazing traditional gizdodo recipe that you will enjoy!
Here are the steps for how to make gizdodo (air-fried)
Step 1 – Select and peel ripe plantains: Make sure your plantains are ripe. Ripe plantains are sweeter and softer than unripe plantains. The sweetness and soft texture of the plantains is exactly what we need for this gizdodo recipe. Ripe plantains are yellow and sometimes have black marks on the peel. Ripe plantains are one of the key ingredients for how to make gizdodo that is delicious.
Step 2 – Dice the plantains into small cubes: You want to make sure the plantain pieces are bite sized, about the same size as the gizzard pieces. Smaller pieces of plantain (and gizzard) will be easier to eat.
Step 3 – Season the diced plantains: You could choose to season you plantain prior to air frying, or you could leave it as is. People who are watching their salt intake, may want to skip the seasoning in this step. Ripe plantain is sweet, so you will still end up with delicious gizdodo.
Step 4 – Air fry the diced plantains then set aside : air frying is a healthy option for those who do not want to deep fry. However, if you do not own or want to use an air fryer, you could use fried plantains instead. The plantains can be fried in vegetable oil, or any other oil you prefer. The plantains are ready once they look golden brown,
Step 5 – Clean and dice the gizzard: Take the time to clean your gizzard thoroughly. Make sure to remove the inner lining or grit that may have been missed by your butcher. Also, dice the gizzard into small bite-sized pieces, so it is easy to manage while eating.
Step 6 – Season and boil the gizzard: You do not want to skimp on the seasoning here. Make sure your gizzard is very well seasoned before boiling – curry powder, thyme, salt, onions, and any other chicken seasoning. This way your gizzard will absorb the maximum amount of flavor while boiling. Also, give the gizzard enough time to boil and soften. You will know it is ready when it is tender enough for a fork to go through without too much resistance. Soft gizzard is also key for how to make gizdodo that is easy to chew and that is enjoyable.
Step 7 – Air fry the boiled gizzard then set aside: Air frying again is a healthier option to deep-frying. However, you can choose to deep-fry if that works better for you.
Step 8-10 – Prepare the gizdodo sauce: Dice the bell peppers, scotch bonnet peppers and onions for the tomato sauce (you can use yellow or red bell peppers for this recipe. Technically you do not have to wait for #1-#7 to be completed before starting the sauce. Your sauce should be fully fried before you add the fried gizzard and fried plantain.
Step 11-13 – Mix the fried plantain and air fried gizzard to the sauce (If you omit the plantain, you could use this recipe to make peppered gizzard sauce / chicken gizzard stew). Simmer on low heat for all the flavors to meld
Step 14 – Now you know how to make gizdodo that is irresistible. ENJOY!
2. How to Enjoy Gizdodo
Gizdodo is a very popular party food in Nigeria and is typically served as part of small chops for parties or as part of the main dish. It can be served as a side with nigerian fried rice or jollof rice, you could also enjoy gizdodo on a stick, or in very special cases, in a puff pastry case (a.k.a vol au vent). Hopefully, you are now comfortable with the steps of how to make gizdodo. Hopefully you can now put your own twist on it.
As you’ve probably guessed gizdodo vol-au-vent is a fusion between the French puff pastry case and gizdodo. If you are looking for a conversation starter to level up your next get-together – make sure you try out this recipe. The detailed instructions for how to make gizdodo vol-au-vent are in the video below.
3. Frequently Asked Questions
What Does Plantain Taste Like?
What plantain tastes like depends on what stage in the ripening process you pick it, and how you prepare it. Green firm plantain that is used to make plantain chips can taste a little bland unless it is seasoned prior to frying. Ripe plantain that is boiled, fried or, grilled usually tastes sweeter than an unripe plantain. It is like a banana – the riper a plantain is, the sweeter it becomes.
How Do You Pick Plantains for Frying?
How you pick plantains for frying depends on what dish you are making. In Nigeria, unripe plantains, which are still green and very firm, are sliced thinly and used to make plantain chips (ipekere) ; ripe plantains that are yellow and just softening, can be sliced or diced and used to make dodo; while overripe plantains that are very soft and black are used to make dodo ikire
What is Nigerian Dodo?
Nigerian Dodo is fried ripe plantain. Dodo can be air fried or deep-fried in oil. Dodo ikire is a variation of Nigerian dodo that is made by frying overripe plantains
How Do You Know When Chicken Gizzards Are Done?
Chicken gizzards can be boiled, fried, grilled or baked. Typically, gizzard needs to be boiled before it can be fried, grilled or baked. You will know that boiled gizzard is done when it is fork tender. For fried, grilled or baked gizzard, you will know it is ready when it looks slightly browned and crispy around the edges.
I hope you enjoyed learning how to make gizzard dodo (aka gizdodo)! I enjoyed making this dodo gizzard recipe for you. Leave me a comment below and let me know if you have any questions about this recipe.
By the way, if you are looking for a healthy small chop recipe, make sure to check out either my Low Carb Keto Puff Puff recipe or my Healthy Baked Puff Puff recipe.
How to make Gizdodo (Guaranteed # 1 Irresistible Recipe)
Ingredients
AIR FRIED PLANTAINS
- 2 medium-sized ripe plantains
- 1/4 tsp chicken seasoning
- 1/4 tsp avocado oil
AIR FRIED GIZZARDS
- 350 g cleaned fresh or thawed gizzard
- 1/2 medium red onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- Thumb sized fresh ginger
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp chicken seasoning
- 1 cup water
GIZDODO SAUCE
- 1/2 medium-sized red onion
- 1 bell pepper i used a yellow bell pepper, but any color is fine
- 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil or any cooking oil you prefer
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp chicken seasoning
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 cup crushed tomato
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce optional but highly recommended
Instructions
Prepare the plantain
- Peel and dice the plantain into little pieces
- Add chicken seasoning, and avocado oil. Then toss
- Air fry for about 10 mins or until golden brown. You could also fry in oil or bake the plantains in the oven if preferred
Prepare the gizzard
- Rinse and clean the gizzard
- Dice the gizzard into bite sized pieces
- Peel and dice the onions, garlic cloves and ginger
- Place the gizzard, onions, garlic and ginger into a pot. Add curry, thyme, salt , chicken seasoning, add the water.
- Boil on medium heat until it softens
- Air fry the gizzard, then set aside. (You can also fry in oil if preferred)
Preparing the sauce
- Chop the onions, garlic, bell peppers, and scotch bonnet peppers. Set aside
- Add oil to frying pan and turn on medium heat
- Once the oil has warmed up, add the thyme and curry. Let fry for 15-30sec
- Add the onions and garlic to the oil and let fry for 1 to 2 mins
- Add the bell peppers and scotch bonnet peppers and continue to stir and fry
- Continue to fry until the onions are translucent.
- While still frying, add all the remaining seasoning and stir until well combined
- Add the crushed tomatoes and stir
- Add a splash of worcestershire sauce (optional)
- Continue to cook on medium heat for 10-15 mins until the sauce fries down
Putting it all together
- Add the fried plantain and fried gizzard into the sauce
- Mix all together until the plantain and gizzard are coated with the sauce
- Turn down the heat to low, and let the plantain and gizzard cook in the sauce for about 10mins
- Serve and enjoy!
