Fried Bean Cake (Akara

• Produce

  • 1 Black eyed peas or brown cowpeas
  • 1 Habanero pepper
  • 1 Onion
  • 1 Red bell pepper

• Baking & Spices

  • 1 Knorr bouillon seasoning
  • 1 Salt

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 1 Vegetable oil

• Liquids

  • 1 Water

Found on naijachef.com

Ingredients

• Black eyed peas or Brown cowpeas
• Red bell pepper
• Habanero pepper
• Onion
• Salt
• Knorr bouillon seasoning
• Water
• Vegetable oil

Directions

• Ingredients 2 cups Black eyed peas or Brown cowpeas1 medium Red bell pepper2 Habanero pepper1 medium Onion1 tsp Salt1 tsp Knorr bouillon seasoning1 cup WaterEnough for deep frying Vegetable oil Akara (Yoruba name) is fried bean cake. Beans is such an essential part of nutrition in Nigeria, and West Africa as a whole. Black eyed peas contain lots of: potassium, fibre, Vitamins A, C and B6, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and the most popular one Nigerians are more familiar with, protein! Traditionally, brown cowpeas and black eyed peas are the beans common to Nigerian cuisine. So, no lie, the akara I featured in this post was only the second or third time I’d actually personally made akara in my life. However, my mission to share traditional Nigerian food with the world continues! If you’ve read how I learnt to cook, you know I feel very comfortable in the kitchen. I only need to see or read how a dish is made a couple of times, and I know what to do. The key to making good akara is to add as little water as possible when blending the peeled beans, so that you end up with a thick paste. Traditionally, akara is prepared by peeling the beans by soaking in water and then rubbing the beans repeatedly with your hands. My fellow food Nigerian food blogger, 9jafoodie, has a version without the skin peeled and it looks just the same. I am yet to try this with akara. I have tried moi moi, another beans dish without peeling the beans, and it indeed doesn’t taste any different. For this akara dish though, I did peel the beans with a blender. Prep Steps 🙁 Soak the beans in warm water for 1 hour. This is the longest portion of the process and is very easy, because it requires no effort. 🙂 Note: You should start to see some of the skins of the beans float to the top after it’s soaked!Soaking the beans! After soaking (the pods should be swollen) ,take about 1 cup of the beans, pour into a blender and add 4 cups of water. The key to peeling in the blender is to add lots of water. Soaked beans! and then run the blender at the lowest speed possible for just a few seconds at a time. Watch the video at the end of the post to see how I do this. Repeat till you have run all the beans through the blender once. Rinse the beans several times and drain to remove the beans skins. You might have some stubborn ones which didn’t peel and you can just rub those through your fingers to peel. Peeling the 2 cups took about 12 minutes. Yes, I had to time it so I could tell you! 🙂 Beans skins! Note: If you can still see a couple peels in there, let it go! It doesn’t have to be 100% peeled. Next, blend with the rest of the ingredients: bell pepper, habaneros, onion, salt and bouillon seasoning and about 1 cup of water. Note: Unless you have an industrial blender, divide into 3 portions and blend gradually as it is difficult to blend the beans with just a little bit of water to keep it thick! You can combine everything when finished blending.Blended akara paste! Cooking time 🙂 Heat up the oil. Use a large spoon, or a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop the paste into the oil once hot. Drain on paper towel and serve hot. For the feature image, I served with fried stew. If you try this recipe, tag us on Instagram or leave a comment below! Comment with Facebook Tell a friend!TweetPocket