I was craving "Akara Elepo" this morning and had to go in search of it at a considerably far distance before I could get it, just imagine for a second that someone starts the business in my area.
Akara as it is popularly called is aboriginal to the Yorubas! Akara, which is also known as black-eyed peas fritters, beans fritters, or Acaraje, is a very delicious, deep-fried bean cake made from black-eyed peas paste.
These are quick, easy, and tasty and involves only a handful of simple ingredients – black-eyed peas, peppers, onions, salt, and seasoning cube.
How to make Akara
- Soak for about 30 minutes or till the skin swells.
- Peel off the beans with your hands (the hard way) or use a blender and pulse a couple of times to split the beans (the easy way)
- Blend the peeled beans with peppers, crayfish, salt, and bouillon powder (or cube).
- Whisk until the batter becomes airy and fluffy. This will take about a minute to 5 minutes depending on the tool you use. Electric hand whisk takes about a minute to two, regular hand whisk will take about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir in the diced onions.
- Preheat the oil and scoop the mixture by spoonfuls into the pan. Fry till golden brown! But in this case, the groundnut oil will be replaced with Palm Oil (Eepo in Yoruba) - that's where the name was derived from.
The result is hot fluffy fritters perfect for pairing with akamu (pap), bread, hot sauce, or just eat as is.