Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk)
Ripe plantains simmered gently in spiced coconut milk until soft and creamy, a sweet from the DR Congo table.
Congolese · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 20 min
~456 cal · 4g protein · 70g carbs · 22g fat · 6g fiber · 36g sugars · 19g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Ndizi wa nazi, banana with coconut in Swahili, is a soft, comforting sweet from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where its name travels with the Swahili spoken across the country's vast east. Ripe are simmered in with warm spices until the fruit turns tender and the sauce to something rich and creamy.
Congolese cooks are the first to say their kitchens lean savoury rather than sweet, leaning on the country's glut of tropical fruit when a sweet tooth calls. This dish is exactly that instinct at work: little more than very ripe , a tin of , and a pinch of , cinnamon and clove, cooked slowly so the natural sugars deepen.
Warm and fragrant, it closes a meal or fills a quiet afternoon, spooned up with its own spiced sauce. It is humble, naturally plant-based, and about as easy as a dessert gets.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
4 ripe , peeled and cut in thick rounds
1 can (about 13 oz) , full-fat
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1 pinch of salt
Instructions
1
Pour the coconut milk into a pot with the sugar, cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg and salt, and bring to a gentle simmer.
2
Slip in the plantain rounds, making sure they are mostly covered by the coconut milk, and simmer gently for about 15 minutes, turning once, until soft.
✎ Chef’s note
Use plantains whose skins have gone well spotted or black. Underripe ones stay starchy and never turn sweet and creamy.
3
Let the sauce reduce for a few more minutes until it thickens and coats the fruit, then fish out the cinnamon stick and cloves.
4
Serve warm in bowls with plenty of the spiced coconut sauce spooned over.
Eastern DR Congo home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kinshasa. Congolese rumba went onto UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2021 on a joint nomination from both Congos, which suits a river city where the music and the eating happen in the same room. The fish comes straight off the Congo, grilled whole, with pili pili passed round on the side.
🗺️
DR Congo. Poulet a la moambe is often named the national dish and is the same palm-nut preparation Gabon calls nyembwe, the pulp of the palm fruit boiled and pressed into a thick orange sauce. Pondu, pounded cassava leaves, has cousins under other names across the region, saka-saka, Rwandan isombe, Sierra Leonean plasas, so it belongs to a wide belt rather than to one country.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from DR Congo
Pondu (Saka Saka)Cassava leaves pounded and simmered with palm oil, eggplant, and smoked richness, the Congo’s daily green.
MikateSweet Congolese fried dough balls, golden, pillowy, and dusted with sugar, for breakfast with tea.
MadesuWhite beans simmered in a savory palm-oil, onion, and tomato sauce, an everyday staple of the DR Congo table.
Browse all DR Congo recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk)?
Ripe plantains simmered gently in spiced coconut milk until soft and creamy, a sweet from the DR Congo table.
Where does Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk) come from?
Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk) is a Congolese dish from Kinshasa, DR Congo.
Can Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ndizi wa Nazi (Plantains in Coconut Milk) take to make?
About 30 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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