Akara

WEST AFRICAN BEAN PANCAKES

This weekend I decided to make some akara, which is a kind of bean cake, or bean 'pancake' if you will, since it's fried in a pan as opposed to baked in a oven. There is actually an oven baked version of this using basically the same ingredients.

It's a pretty simple meal to make once you know how, but it's very delicious. It's traditionally eaten for breakfast with some kind of cornmeal, but can also be taken on its own like I did.

It's naturally vegetarian, but can be enhanced with animal products to taste. There's a Brazilian version of this known as "Acarajé", which is slightly more elaborate.

Vegetarian

Beans
Peppers
Chillies
Onion
Salt
Oil

+

Non Vegetarian

Crayfish
Eggs

The ingredients are blended into a thick paste and placed into a hot frying pan of oil. Deep frying creates crunchier akara, but you can also flatten them out so they're more like pancakes rather than balls. They are also eaten as a snack, especially when fried as small balls with lots of crumbs.

They taste so good that they're easy to overeat. The ingredients are basic and healthy, but they are fried after all, so much moderation is needed :)

Peace & Love,

Adé