After a busy and eventful number of years, life somewhat calmed down in our second home, and Deniz and wanted to get back into testing recipes. So we decided to test try a new international dish from a different country every week, in search for new and interesting tastes and textures to titillate our taste buds. This Nigerian Akara is the first we tried. It’s simple yet surprisingly unique. Mild bean taste in a deep fried bread ball texture. It’s normally eaten for breakfast, yet, with some spices or sauce, I can see it making a great and fun fusion snack or appetizer.
Nigerian Black Eye Pea Fritters (Akara)
This Nigerian breakfast staple has a mild bean taste with a deep fried bread texture. Fun and lower carb alternative for those of us who like the taste but not the pastiness of beans.
Ingredients
- 2 c black eyed peas, dried
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 jalepeno, roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
- 2 Maggi veg chicken or Knorr bullion cubes
- 1/2 t salt
Notes
- In a large bowl, cover the black eyed peas in cold water. Let sit anywhere between 15 min to an hour to loosen the skins, no longer or the beans will get mushy.
- Prepare the rest of the ingredients according to the ingredient list.
- Drain, and then transfer to a blender and add approx 8 cups of water. You may need to do in 2 batches. Pulse the beans 10 times for 1 second each to loosen the skin off the beans, but not to pulverize the beans.
- Pour back into the large bowl, mix. Let stand for 10 minutes. Massage the beans to help loosen the skin off the beans, and mix. Let stand for another 20 minutes to allow the skins to float to the top of the water.
- Pour the top of the liquid into a colander to collect only the skins that are floating on the top of the water. Discard the skins. Refill with water and repeat until most of the skins are gone. It is okay if there are still some skins left.
- Drain, and transfer the deskinned peas back to the blender. Add 1 c water, chopped onions, chopped garlic, chopped jalapeno, chopped red pepper, bullion, and salt. Blend for 3 minutes until the mixture is a paste. Remove from the blender and fluff up the paste to add air to the mixture.
- Prepare a sheet with paper towels. Heat up a deep fryer full of oil.
- Drop 1 T of the mixture into the deep fryer oil one at a time, dropping far enough apart to make sure the balls do not stick together. Using a mellon ball scoop can help to get the mixture out of the scoop easily and keep the Akara in a more rounded shape. Cook until golden brown, flipping over half way, approximately 6 minutes. Transfer to the baking sheet to drain.
