Accara recipe - accara is black eyed peas fritters that is crispy on the outside, fluffy and soft on the inside. With minimal ingredients, it is easy to prepare and irresistible. Eat it as is or stuff in your burgers or wraps for a wholesome meal.
This post was originally published in Aug 2016 and is republished with new content and images.
Accara recipe has a different name across West Africa. It is accara in Senegal, akara in Nigeria and koose in Ghana. In Brazil it is acaraje and is stuffed with shrimp. Akara is believed to have originated in Nigeria and is popular all across west Africa.
Accara recipe is so easy to prepare that it is one of the most popular breakfasts in west African nations and also a popular street food. Though it has different names in different countries, preparation is pretty much similar and serving method varies slightly.
Senegalese serve accara with chili sauce called sosu kaani, a tomato and pepper sauce. Nigerians often serve it with oats or corn porridge for breakfast and is also stuffed in burger buns. Akara burger is common on Nigerian streets where akara is stuffed in local bread.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Black Eyed Peas - soaked and skinned black. You can also use cow peas.
- Onion - chopped. Grind to paste along with peas or add chopped onion to the batter. Depending on my mood, sometimes I use either ground or chopped.
- Seasoning - Black pepper, salt, chili flacks, habanero peppers or scotch bonnet. I usually use black pepper, salt and chili powder. To keep it more authentic, use habanero or scotch bonnet and black pepper.
- Baking Soda - to aerate the batter. I use to use it in the past and now prefer aerating the batter without soda, using a mixer.
- Oil - for deep frying.
Instructions
Soak peas, remove the skin, grind the batter, season it and deep fry. Time consuming part of the preparation is removing the skin, besides the soaking time. And follow the instructions below for a tip on easily skinning the beans.
Soak cowpeas or black eyed peas for at least 6 hours or overnight. To skin the peas, wash soaked peas rubbing the peas between fingers or maybe even between palms. Skin will peel off and float in water. Discard the water and the peas skin will drain off with water.
Repeat the above step 4-5 times to remove most of the skin from the peas. This is a time consuming process and requires putting in some pressure when rubbing the peas. Follow the below tip for easy skinning of the peas. Nowadays, I follow this to easily remove the peas skin.
Wash soaked peas and pulse in a food processor or a blender 2-3 times. Do not over do it. Peas should split into 2 or 3 pieces.
Transfer to a bowl, add some water and rub the peas with your fingers or between your palms. Skin will easily peel off.
Add more water to peas and slowly drain, shaking the bowl so that peas skin drains along with water. Do this a few times to discard all the peeled skin.
Transfer washed peas to a colander or a strainer and let water drain for a few minutes.
Transfer to a food processor container, add onions, spices, baking soda and process until smooth. Texture should be like hummus.
Heat oil in a wok or a saute pan, drop a teaspoon or sugar spoon of batter into oil and fry until light brown.
Flip fitters half way into frying and fry until cooked. Cook on medium flame for even cooking of the fritters.
Remove fritters from oil and drain on paper towels.
How to make fluffy akara without baking soda
In the past my accara recipe always had baking soda and it was for convenience. But these days, I prefer making it without soda. It takes additional 5-10 minutes to get fluffy accara.
Soak black eyed peas, skin the peas and prepare the batter without adding any seasoning and onion. Transfer to a bowl and then mix the batter vigorously using a spoon, whisk, hand mixer or a stand mixer.
Depending on the equipment used, it takes 5-10 minutes to aerate the batter. With my hand mixer, it takes 5-6 minutes.
Season the batter with chopped onion, chili powder, black pepper and salt.
Gently mix the batter to mix everything and using a teaspoon or a sugar spoon, drop batter into oil to fry fritters.
Fry fritters until brown on medium flame and drain on paper towels.
Serving
- Serve akara as is or with chili sauce. In Senegal it is common to serve with sosu kaani, a tomato scotch bonnet sauce.
- Stuff akara in burger buns, pita bread or in wraps. Use chili sauce, lettuce, onions or filling of your choice. In photo, I used sriracha mayo and onions.
Variation
- Seasoning - use a cube of bouillon for more flavor. I personally have not tried it but lot of people prefer it.
- Akara prepared without baking soda tastes just like medhu vada. So, for a variation, grind some ginger along with batter or add chopped ginger to the batter. To enhance the flavour further, add chopped scallions, curry leaves and cilantro.
- Indianised version - Accara recipe with soda tastes a lot like garelu we make in South India. It is similar to above mentioned variation but does not require aerating the batter. Also, for crunch, keep aside some peas and add it to prepared batter. Skip black pepper and use green chilies and ginger to season the batter. Refer to pesaru garelu recipe and replace moong with black eyed peas or cow peas.
Storage
Consume accara when hot. Store leftovers in covered container up to a day. In the refrigerator store for few days. Reheat in microwave or oven. To retain the fluffiness and crispness, reheat in the oven.
Expert Tips
- Soak dal for at least 6 hours or overnight for smooth batter.
- Skinning the peas - pulse soaked peas 2-3 times in the food processor or a blender until peas are break into 2-4 pieces and then rub between fingers or palms to remove the skin. You can pulse peas before or after soaking and I prefer latter.
- Water - Use minimal water when blending peas. Too much water could result in flat fritters. Also, blending onions along with peas, you will require even less water as onion paste adds some moisture to the batter.
Signup to the newsletter to receive latest updates from MySpicyKitchen.
Detailed, Printable Recipe
Accara Recipe
Equipment
- 2 bowls One for soaking and other for the batter
- 1 Colander
- 1 food processor or blender or Indian mixie
- 1 Spatula
- 1 hand mixer or stand mixer or a whisk To whisk the batter if preparing without baking soda
- 1 Cutting Board and Knife
- 1 deep frying pan and slotted spoon for deep frying
- 1 teaspoon or sugar spoon To drop the batter into oil
- paper towels and a platter To drain deep fried fritters
Ingredients
- 1 cup Black Eyed Peas washed and soaked for 4-6 hours or overnight
- ½ small Onion chopped or ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper Powder adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon Chili Powder or Chili Flakes opt. and adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2-3 tablespoon Water less than ¼ cup
- Oil for deep frying about 1 ½ - 2 cups
Instructions
- Wash and soak black eyed peas for 6 hours or preferably overnight.
- Wash peas rubbing them between fingers or maybe even between palms, to remove the skin of the peas. Peas skin will peel off and float in water. Discard the water and peas skin will drain off with water.
- Repeat the above step 3-5 times to remove the skin from most of the peas.
- Before discarding water, add decent amount of water to peas and slowly drain the water. If there is any peas skin in the bowl, allow it to drain with the water. Do this a few times to discard all the peeled skin.
- Tip - easier way to peel the skin is to pulse soaked blacked eyed peas in a food processor or a blender 2-3 times. Do not over do it. Then follow the above 3 steps to peel and discard the skin. You can pulse the peas after soaking for 15-30 minutes and then soak as required or soak for 6 hours or overnight and then pulse. I prefer the latter.
- Transfer washed peas to a colander and let water drain for few minutes.
Akara with baking soda
- Transfer to a food processor container, add onions, black pepper, salt, chili powder/flakes if using, baking soda and process until smooth. Alternatively, prepare the batter, then add the spices and chopped onion.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of water or as required when processing and the texture should be like hummus. if you are not grinding onions along with the peas, you will require water.
- Transfer to a bowl, taste the batter and adjust seasoning to taste. If you are not using baking soda, follow bellow steps.
Akara without baking soda
- Prepare the batter by blending black eyed peas in a food processor or a blender. I prefer not to add any spices at this stage. You will need close to ½ cup of water. Add water slowly as needed.
- when the batter is smooth, transfer to a bowl, using a whisk, hand mixer or a stand mixer, mix the batter to aerate it. It will take 5-10 minutes depending on the appliance used. With hand mixer, it took about 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a bowl, add chopped onion and rest of the spices. Mix well, taste and adjust the seasoning.
Deep fry
- Heat oil in a wok or a saute pan for deep frying. When oil is hot, reduce the flame to medium.
- Drop teaspoon or sugar spoon of batter into oil, fry until light brown and until fritters are evenly cooked inside. Depending on the size of the pan, can fry 6-8 fritters at a time.
- Remove fritters from oil and place on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
- Repeat above two steps to fry rest of the fritters. I had to fry the fritters in 4 batches.
- Serve hot with sosu kaani, Chili sauce of your choice or serve as is. You can also prepare a burger or a wrap by stuffing 3-4 fritters.
Notes
- Soak dal for at least 6 hours or overnight for smooth batter.
- Skinning the peas - pulse soaked peas 2-3 times in the food processor or a blender until peas are broken into 2-4 pieces and then rub between fingers or palms to remove the skin. You can pulse peas before or after soaking and I prefer later.
- Use minimal amount of water when blending peas. Too much water could result in flat fritters. Also, when blending onions along with black eyed peas, you will require very little water as onion paste adds some moisture to the batter.
- Seasoning - use a cube of bouillon for more flavor. I personally have not tried it but lot of people prefer it.
- Ginger & herbs - Akara prepared without baking soda tastes just like medhu vada. So, for a variation, grind some ginger along with batter or add chopped ginger to the batter. To enhance the flavour further, add chopped scallions, curry leaves and cilantro.
- Indianised version - Akara with soda tastes a lot like garelu we make in South India. It is similar to above mentioned variation but does not require aerating the batter. Also, for crunch, keep aside some peas and add it to prepared batter. Skip black pepper, baking soda and use green chilies and ginger to season the batter. Refer to pesaru garelu recipe and replace moong with black eyed peas or cow peas.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in Aug 2016. It is republished with new content and images.
Radha says
These sound super delicious with a cup of chai. I like the idea of making a burger with it too.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
Like you said it's more like garelu but with black-eyed peas. I am all up for any thing deep fried and this is so inviting an yum
Pavani says
I made these for mega BM and they were a hit with my folks. Except for the peeling the peas part, I enjoyed these fritters thoroughly 🙂
Simple Living Eating (@SimpleLivingEat) says
I love finding commonality in cuisines. So interesting the similarities to the Indian fritters. Looks delicious.
Mireille Roc (@ChefMireille) says
did you like the sosu kaani as much as I did when I made it? to me this is perfect street food - very popular in the Caribbean - Africans must have brought it over
LydiaF says
I like the flavor of black eyed peas. I think it's interesting that they don't have to be cooked to make these fritters.