Below you will find an easy recipe for akara AKA Nigerian black bean fritters. Quick, easy and tasty! This plant-based dish is eaten all over West Africa as well as in the Bahia region of Brazil – considered the Yoruba capital of the Americas – the same dish is made and called Acaraje.  Ghanians call it koose, and in Senegal it is accara.  These delightful fritters are vegan, keto and paleo friendly.

This naturally protein packed dish is traditionally eaten for breakfast but is now enjoyed as a snack whenever suits.  It is commonly served with akamu/ogi/pap or can also be stuffed inside Agege bread for a guilty pleasure.

Give your akara a nice kick with Cameroon Pepper which you can order here: https://africanplate.co.uk/product/cameroon-pepper/

Share a pic with us if you make it!

Ingredients

230g cowpeas (black eyed beans)

1 small onion (chopped into small pieces)

2 scotch bonnet (chopped into small pieces)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon African Plate Cameroon Pepper

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Instructions

1. Blend the cowpeas into a smooth paste using a blender with as little water as possible.
2. Transfer the blended paste into a bowl and whisk for 5 minutes with a wire whisk (less with an electric whisk).
3. Add warm water to the whipped paste until you have a thick dropping consistency.  The batter should not fall apart when dropped into the oil.
4. Fold in all the other ingredients into the whipped paste just before cooking; repeat with each batch of akara to be fried.
5. Heat the oil until is just begins to smoke.
6. Drop the batter by dessertspoonful into the hot oil.
7. When they are brown on the underside, flip them over and allow them to brown on the other side.
8. Akara is best served immediately it is cooked.