Saturday is sanitation day. You are bone tired and hungry; exhausted from the cleaning you have done or pretended to do. You smell something scrumptious from your mom’s kitchen. It’s Akara (bean fritters) and Ogi. Yum! —Memories of home
Ingredients
- 2 cups of skinless black-eyed peas
- ½ medium sized onion
- 1 Habanera or scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 tsp garlic
- 2 maggi cubes
- 1 tsp of cayenne pepper (optional)
- ½ tsp of salt to taste (optional)
- 1 cup of water
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Chop onions and scotch bonnet peppers into large chunks and set aside.
- Place 1/3rd of the skinless beans, onions, garlic, cayenne pepper, scotch bonnet peppers, salt and maggi cubes, into blender.
- Cover the food processor and blend for 1 minute intervals until the puree is smooth.
- With food processor running, slowly pour 1/4 cup of water, scraping sides of the bowl as necessary. You may need to stop the machine and add water to achieve the desired consistency.
- Repeat this process until all the ingredients are blended.
- Transfer the batter to a bowl and whisk to incorporate air.
- Heat oil in a deep fryer or heavy bottomed pan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Slowly drop 8-10 tablespoons of batter into hot oil.
- Cook between 2 and 3 minutes, turning once, until Akara is golden brown
Notes
Tip for Skinless black eyed peas: Soak black eyed peas in water for 10 minutes. Add 3/4 cup of soaked black eyed peas to food processor. Add 1 cup of water. Pulse for 3-5 seconds. Repeat pulse 10 times. Place black eyed peas into a bowl and rinse of the skin. Repeat process for remaining black eyed peas until skin is removed. Tip for batter: Do not add more water than is necessary as this will produce an oily fritter.