Akara - Nigerian Fried Bean Cake

Akara is the most popular Nigerian bean cake prepared with black eyed peas. This fried cake are quite famous among the Nigerians as they can be consumed for breakfast or snacks. This cakes are dangerously addictive and you cant just stop with one.If you make this crispy fritters you wont  just stop yourself having them. As i told earlier Akara is made with soaked and deskinned black eyed peas blended to a puree and fried in oil with chopped onions and peppers. Most of the akaras are prepared either by blending onions and peppers together with the deskinned peas or else both chopped onions and peppers are added later to the blended puree too. I tried the second way and they came out simply fabulous.

Grinding the batter for making Akara ressembles quite like our vadas, but the water plays an important role in making this batter.If you want to make light and fluffy akara, you need to check with the water to blend the beans. Else this fried bean cake are simple to make. Am posting this crispy fritters for this week's blogging marathon as am running pick one do three as this week's theme and i picked fried dough foods among the three different links suggested by Srivalli.Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#50.

2cups Black eyed peas
1 no Onion (chopped)
2-3no Scotch bonnet peppers/green chillies (chopped)
Oil for frying
Salt

Wash and soak your beans overnight in enough water.

Wash the beans till the skin has peeled off.

Blend the beans with a little water till it forms a paste.

Pour your paste in a bowl and with a wooden spoon, whisk the paste till the mixture is light and fluffy

Add the salt, chopped onions and chopped scotch bonnet pepper. (You can  blend the onion and pepper along with beans and mix it in.)

Heat oil,once the oil is hot,spoon the paste with a spoon and drop immediately.

Fry in medium flame until they turns golden brown.

Drain the excess oil and enjoy.