Benin - Akkara

West African fritters

Aneri's note: I haven't been to Benin, but my roommate in college has and she brought home a freaky voodoo doll that supposedly guarded our home. That's my only connection to Benin!

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Akkara with Dja sauce

Difficulty level (1-10): 10

Akkara is a popular West African street food snack. Peeled black eyed peas is partly why this dish is so tasty, but the peeling process was quite tedious and brutal hence the 10 score on difficulty.

Akkara Ingredients:

Black eyed peas - 2 cups, soaked and peeled

Red bell pepper - 1, halved

Habanero pepper - 1, halved

Onion - 1, quartered

Salt - 1 tsp

Vegetable stock cube - 1

Water - add a little to blend, but consistency of batter should be more paste like

Oil - enough for deep fry

1. Soak the beans in warm water for an hour.

2. Separate all the skins from the beans by putting them in water. Beans should be peeled and clean for this recipe. Note this takes a long time and definitely enlist others to help.

3. Put the clean beans back into the blender, add water, peppers, stock cube, and onion and blend into a paste.

4. Pour batter into a large bowl, add salt, and whisk together until its light and fluffy for 4 minutes.

5. Heat the oil and drop 1/3 cup of the batter into the frying pan and deep fry until golden brown.

6. Drain on paper towels and serve hot!

Dja Sauce Ingredients:

Oil - 4 TB

Onion - 2, diced

Garlic - 3 cloves

28 oz can of tomatoes - 1

Chili pepper - to taste

Vegetable stock cube - 1

Water - 3 cups

Black pepper - to taste

1. Heat oil in a pan and add onion and garlic and fry. Then add the tomatoes and chilis. Fry for 5 minutes then add water and vegetable stock.

2. Cover and allow to boil for 20 minutes (or use a pressure cooker) until a soup forms.

3. Season with black pepper and serve with the fritters.

Edit: this simple sauce is delicious when blended for pasta, eggs, etc!

This dish was inspired by Naijachef, Chef Olas Kitchen, and Food.com

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