Akara - Bean Cake
Akara also known as fried bean cake, koose, bean balls and acaraje. This is a common breakfast in Nigerian homes. It is vegetarian or vegan, delicious and easy to make. Let me show you how to make the best akara recipe that is fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside.
Servings: 4
Calories:
Ingredients
- 1 cup Black eyed peas
- 1-2 Scotch bonnets
- 1 small Bell pepper optional
- 1 large Onion
- 1 Bouillion cube
- Salt to taste
- Oil Vegetable, sunflower, coconut or palm oil
Instructions
- Peel the beans. The easiest way of doing this is by using blender. Click HERE to know how to peel beans using blender.
- Blend the peeled beans with the scotch bonnet, bell pepper and onion. It’s important you do not add too much water to blend as what you want is a thick paste for the akara so blend with as little water as possible.
- Pour the blended beans in a bowl, add bouillion cube and salt to taste and mix thoroughly.
- Pour vegetable, sunflower or palmoil in a frying pan and put on stove. You need it deep fried so make sure you have enough oil in the frying pan.
- When oil is heated start scooping in the bean paste. For this i usually use a small cooking spoon which is just slightly bigger than a tablespoon.To determine if oil is heated enough drop a tiny bit of the paste in the oil. If it floats to the top then the oil is ready .*It’s important not to scoop too many in the oil at a go because doing that will drop the temperature of the oil.
- When a side is done, flip to the other side.Fry both sides till it’s brown and when done remove from oil and put on paper towel to get rid of excess oil.
- Serve with pap (ogi), custard or any other side of choice.
Notes
- Soak peeled beans in water for up to 6 hours before blending. This make blending easier plus it gives fluffier akara.
- Blend with little water. If using home blender, put onion and peppers at the bottom of the blender before adding beasn. That way they blen first and provide more juice for the beans to blend in wothout use of excess water.
- For fluffy inside, mix the bean paste with hand or stand mixer till it's light and fluffy before frying.
- If the batter is too watery, the akara will come out flat and in some cases not hold up in oil. That's why it's important to blend with as little water as possible.
- To store leftover, allow to cool completely then put in ziploc , label and store in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.