Akara Recipes

AKARA

Steps:

• Soak black-eyed peas overnight in a large pot of water.
• Drain and add water again to cover.
• Loosen black-eyed beans skins by rubbing the beans between your hands. Alternatively, you can speed up the process by putting the beans in the food processor with just a little water and pulsing briefly 3 to 4 times.
• Transfer the beans to a food processor. Add about ¼ cup (50ml) of water for every 2 cups of beans. Puree until smooth and creamy. You may need to add a little more water to reach the right texture. Add hot pepper and shallots and blend again.
• Put the bean paste in a bowl and mix well. Season to taste and mix again.
• In a large pan, heat vegetable oil to 370F/190C. Form balls of paste with a spoon and carefully dip them into the pan. Fry until browned evenly on all sides.
• Place on a dish lined with paper towel. Serve hot alone or with a dipping sauce.

NIGERIAN AKARA WAFFLE

Steps:

• Pick the beans and soak in water for at least 30 minutes.
• Peel the beans according to your preferred method (see the link on the notes).
• Peel the onion and cut it into quarters. Remove the stalk from the bell pepper and the scotch bonnet.
• Tear the bell pepper into smaller pieces and add into the blender with the onion, scotch bonnet and the peeled beans. Add ½ cup of water. Puree until you have a smooth paste.
• Do not add more than the recommended quantity of water, or the akara will not hold its shape.
• Break an egg, beat and keep to one side.
• Pour the blended mixture into a bowl, add some salt and a tablespoon of the egg. Mix thoroughly with a whisk or a fork.
• Switch on the waffle maker at a low setting (I used the "2" setting on mine) and allow it to heat up. You need a low setting to allow the akara the time to cook properly.
• Oil the surfaces by soaking up some kitchen roll with oil and rubbing it on the waffle iron surface.
• Scoop the mixture into the waffle maker and close. Allow to cook for at least 1 min.
• Switch off the waffle maker and leave the akara for another minute before you open the waffle maker. Remove gently.
• You will need to oil the waffle maker after each akara to prevent sticking. The way to do this is to soak up some tissue with oil and rub it on the waffle surface.

AKARA

Steps:

• Soak peas overnight in lots of water. Drain. Peel the outside skin from the peas.
• In a processor, pulse the 1 onion and red pepper to coarsely chop. Add soaked peas and puree to a paste. Transfer to a bowl and using a whisk, whisk the mixture adding salt, white pepper and just a little soaking liquid -- not too much as the mixture needs to retain its shape for frying.
• Using an ice cream scoop, form into balls about the size of a ping-pong ball. Drop into a pot of hot olive oil, heated to 360 degrees F. Fry until golden brown. Remove to paper towel-lined plate. Season again with salt and pepper.
• Make a quick dipping sauce by pulsing 2 seeded tomatoes, 1 onion, 1 green pepper and some parsley in food processor. Add olive oil and season with salt and pepper. It should be a little chunky, but smooth enough to stick to the fried akara.