Hi friends and readers, welcome to my tasty corner. Today I bring you a classic, a household recipe known far across all the different cultures in my country. The famous Akara and pap combo, nut with a little flare and drama. My mind; urgh! I'm too good.
The common place for this meal combo on the timetable is usually on a Saturday morning. And it comes with a lot of effort, time and patience so it is not technically the proper quick breakfast unless you are having it on a later day. Without much ado, let's get to the most tasking one - The Akara.
FIRST PART: AKARA.
INGREDIENTS:
- A cup of Beans or more.
- Onions
- Peppers
- Salt
- Seasoning.
AKARA is made from beans, you simply have to grind up and mix some beans to a certain consistency, and fry in oil. I used brown beans for this one, sorry I didn't get a before picture.
STEP 1: WASH BEANS TO REMOVE SKIN.
The common way to do this is by soaking the desired quantity of beans in water for a few minutes, and start washing aggressively to make the skin come off but, the easiest hack is to put in a deep bowl, add a bit of water and pound gently with a small pestle. I learned this great hack from my uncle’s wife, you have to pound for about 15 to 20 minutes, I’m not sure; I didn’t pound this one so I don’t know it doesn’t take a lot of time in comparison to washing and peeling with your hands.
Next fill the bowl with water and start the tiresome journey to sieving out the now peeled skin that just keeps sticking around. Well, nothing a stream of running water and patient bones can’t take care off.
After the washing is done, you can see the beans is now unclothed and ready to be thrown into an aggressive blender. Now, this is where it gets tricky, the consistency of the blending matters, it can’t be too fine as that is more suitable for making moi moi. It has to have some level of texture.
STEP 2: ADD PEPPERS AND SPICES.
I added some peppers, onions, some tatashe bell pepper and I would have also added some green peppers if I had any - blend them up and ready for frying in some deep oil. I have to warn you, your blender has to be strong because it is raw beans and could become a problem to a blender not designed for coarse grinding.
STEP 3: MIX TO REQUIRED CONSISTENCY.
After the blending, I added some salt, some crushed crayfish, more onions, cube seasoning. The secret to this recipe is keeping it simple, trust me you don’t want to do too much. Though I could have tried some curry powder, next time.
STEP 4: FRYING OF THE AKARA.
I added some water and mixed it to a mild thick consistency but not lumpy or too thick. I already have my oil heating up on the stove so I lower the heat as I am about to start moulding my Akara into the oil, it looks easy but not really. You have to mind the angle of the spoon to avoid spreading too far and unevenly.
Well, you go from the low to high heat gradually and just let it cook in the oil, flipping is import for an even toast or burn or should I say burn.
There you have it, your beautiful golden Akara balls or loaves.
THE SECOND PART - PAP.
INGREDIENTS:
- Corn starch.
- Some water.
- Boiling hot water.
This one is an easy one but also tricky. One wrong move and you are staring at a pool of runny pap that didn’t form a thick paste. The hack is in the melting of the pap in lesser quantity of water before the hot water is poured in; the raw pap can’t be too runny, it has be slightly thick before the hot water is poured in. I stir as I poured until it thickens Magically.
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You can add some milk, sugar and or choco powder to this plate of goodness, but I used honey instead and topped it with some muesli because I’m trying to consume less processed sugar.
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Muesli is raw dry oats with dry fruits, it becomes granola when you bake it. It tasted amazing and I particularly enjoyed how they melted away into my mouth. Pure bliss!
Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did making it.
All Images displayed are mine, and and taken on my phone. Follow me on my blog atyourservice
