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Akara with kosayi (African dipping sauce)
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‘Akara’ are black eyed bean fritters. Common to West Africa (especially Senegal and Nigeria) these fritters are commonly prepared at home for breakfast, for snacks, or as an appetizer or side dish. They are also fast-food, sold by vendors on the street, in marketplaces, and at bus stations.
Ingredients
Akara
500g Black eyed beans
Water
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying
Herbs of choice, optional
1 tsp baking powder, optional
African Dipping Sauce
500g or 9 Baby red capsicums
90g or 3 long red hot chillies
30g or 7 small red hot or habanera* chillies
2 tbsp vegetable oil
75g sugar
75 ml white vinegar
1 tsp salt
Olive oil
*If replacing the 7 small hot chillies (with habanera chillies) you must remove the seeds and veins before blanching them in boiling water.
Preparation
Akara
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, tip in the beans and maintain a steady boil for 1-2 mins in order to loosen the skins of the beans. Strain the beans
Lay a clean tea-towel on the work surface and spread the beans on it, cover with a second tea-towel. Roll the beans in the towels using palms of your hands. In a short time most of the beans will have shed their skins. Remove any skins that remain by rubbing the beans between your thumb and forefinger.
To ensure all skins are removed; tip the beans in a large pot, add a lot of water and swirl around in a circular motion and skins should rise to the top
Place skinless beans in a food processor (or pound with a mortar and pestle) and blend into a very fine paste so there are no lumps.
Knead the paste then divide into two equal parts.
Place one part of the paste into a bowl over a simmering pot of water, stirring continuously with a rubber spatula until it gets a dough-like consistency. Take great care that the mixture does not cook or curdle….briefly taking the bowl off the simmering pot of water from time to time – with continued stirring will help the thinning process.
When the paste is even in its consistency, mix in the reserved bean dough and continue stirring on the simmering water for about 1 minute. Then take the bowl off the heat continuing to stir until mixture is cooled to room temperature.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper and additional herbs of choice (you can even add baking powder if you want a lighter texture)
Shape into fritters (whatever shape you desire)
Fry the fritters in oil (either shallow or deep fry).
As an interesting alternative; you can wrap in banana leaves and steam them.
Kosayi (African Dipping Sauce)
A good kosayi should be not too hot, you can just feel the heat. The mixture will keep for about 6 months in the refrigerator - the older it gets the better it tastes.
Place the chillies and the whole capsicums in a large pot of cold water and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 25 min or until soft. Cover, turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
Drain and seed both chilli and capsicum, then peel the capsicum. Place in a food processor and blend to a creamy paste.
Press mixture through a fine strainer to remove any remaining skin.
Stir in sugar, oil, salt and white vinegar then place in a jar and allow at least 2 days to mature.
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