Akara

Name: Akara
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: cup Beans (black-eyed or brown beans); habanero peppers; 1 medium onion; to taste Salt; Oil for frying

Maryam Mukhtar Nayaya ( Mrs A I Zira) @cook_14450198

Plateau State

Breakfast ideas

Maryam Mukhtar Nayaya ( Mrs A I Zira) @cook_14450198

Plateau State

Breakfast ideas

Saved

Ingredients

cupBeans (black-eyed or brown beans)
habanero peppers
1medium onion
to tasteSalt
Oil for frying

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Steps

1

Remove the beans coat. Read how to remove beans coat for help on how to do that. It is important that you do not let salt come in contact with the beans you will use in making Akara till you are ready to fry it. Salt is believed to destroy the leavening property of beans. This is what prevents spattering of the beans batter during frying.
2

Then soak the beans in water for 2 hours to make it soft enough for your blender. If you will grind it using the heavy duty grinders in Nigerian markets, it will not be necessary to soak the beans for extended periods of time.
Cut the pepper and onions into desirable sizes.
3

Grind the beans with your blender making sure you add as little water as possible. The water should be just enough to move the blades of your blender.
4

Set some vegetable oil on the cooker to heat up. The oil should be at least 3 inches deep.
5

Put some of the ground beans into a mortar. This should be the quantity you can fry in one go.
6

Stir the beans puree with the pestle in a continuous circular motion. You need to apply some pressure so that you can energize the particles of the beans puree.
7

Keep stirring till the ground beans appears whiter and you can perceive its peculiar aroma.
Add some water till you get the consistency
8

Check to make sure the oil is hot. The oil should be hot enough to sizzle but not too hot. If too hot, the Akara will spatter as soon as the beans batter hits the oil.
Once the oil is hot, add the onions and pepper to the beans puree in the mortar. Stir well.
9

Should always be added just before scooping the beans mixture into the oil. If salt stays in the mixture for extended periods of time, it will destroy the leavening property of the beans. This property is what makes the Akara float in the oil and prevent spatter during frying.
10

To fry the Akara, scoop the mixture with a table spoon and slowly pour this into the oil. Dipping the spoon a little bit into the oil helps reduce spatter.
Fry the underside till brown and flip to fry the top side too.
When the Akara balls are brown all over, remove and place in a sieve lined with paper towels.
11

Enjoy
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