Akara
Nigerian fritters of peeled black-eyed beans whipped airy with onion and chilli, then fried until they puff and turn golden.
Photo : AkinkuotuFunmi · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Prep
- 35 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
Method
- Soak the beans for 2 hours, rub off the skins, then rinse until the water runs clear.
- Blend the beans with the cold water, added a spoonful at a time. Stop as soon as the paste is smooth and holds on the spatula.
- Tip into a large bowl and beat hard for 5 minutes, until the paste pales and almost doubles.
- Fold in the onion, chilli and salt with a spatula, keeping the trapped air intact.
- Heat the oil to 170C. Drop in spoonfuls of batter and fry for 4 to 5 minutes, turning them halfway.
- Drain on a rack and serve hot, with bread or a bowl of corn porridge.
The beating stands in for a raising agent. Bean proteins hold air bubbles the way a whisked egg white does, and those bubbles expand in the hot oil to puff the fritter. A wet batter lets the air escape, so add the water sparingly and test one spoonful before frying the batch.
