Acarajé
Bahian black-eyed pea fritters fried in red palm oil, split open and filled with a spiced peanut and coconut cream.
Photo : Melsj · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 65 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Hard
Method
- Rub the soaked peas hard between your hands in a large bowl of water so the skins float free. Skim them off and repeat until the peas are white.
- Blend the skinned peas with the onion and salt, adding no water, to a thick, even paste.
- Beat the paste hard with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes; it should pale and lighten, which is what makes the fritters airy.
- For the filling, blend the peanuts, cashews, coconut milk, ginger, chilli and the 2 tbsp of dendê to a thick cream, then warm it gently for 5 minutes.
- Heat the palm oil to 175°C in a deep pan. Scoop up large spoonfuls of batter and slide them in.
- Fry for 4 to 5 minutes, turning halfway, until puffed and a deep red-brown. Drain well.
- Split each acarajé through its thickness without cutting all the way, and fill generously with the cream before serving.
Acarajé was born in the Afro-Brazilian kitchens of Bahia and is still sold by baianas in their white dress. Beating the batter is not decorative: the trapped air is what makes the fritters swell.
