How to make Akara (Bean cake)

Ingredients:::
•2 Cups Brown Beans
•3 Chili pepper “Shombo” – Optional
•2 Red bell pepper “Tatashe”
•2 Scotch bonnet pepper “Ata rodo”
•1 small Red onion
•2 Seasoning cubes , Crushed
•Salt to taste
•Vegetable oil/ plam oil (For deep frying)

Procedure:::
Step 1: Sort the beans to separate the chaff from the beans. To remove the skin, there are two methods i.e The hand method & The Blender method. The hand method is the manual way of peeling beans and is much more difficult as it could take up to an hour to complete while the blender method is easier and could take about 5 minutes to complete. 
Hand Method of removing beans skin: Soak the beans in water for like 10 mins or less. if you soak the beans for a longer period the skin would stick to the body of the beans thereby making it very difficult to wash off. Peel the skin off the beans by rubbing them between your hands and rinsing to allow the skins to float to the top. Sieve the brown skin out with clean water leaving the white part of the beans. 
Blender Method of removing beans skin: Another method of washing beans to make it easier is to put the unwashed beans into a blender, Add water & pulse the blender for about 5 minutes. This doesn’t break the beans but removes the skin. Sieve the brown skin out with clean water leaving the white part of the beans.  

Step 2: Remove the seeds from the red bell pepper and wash. Place the washed beans (White) in the blender. Add the Red bell pepper (Tatashey), Scotch bonnet (Shombo) and onion into the Blender. Add a little water to enable the blades of the blender move and blend till you get a smooth paste.

Step 3: Put the mixture in a mortar, add Salt and Crushed Seasoning. Gradually stir the paste with a pestle for about 5 minutes. This is one of the secrets to getting very soft akara balls. 

Step 4: Pour the vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat up. Spoon the mixture into the sizzling oil to form balls one spoon at a time and fry until golden brown making sure you flip frequently on each side.

Step 5: Remove balls and drain on absorbent kitchen paper.

Serve with Hot sauce/ pepper as a snack or with pap(Ogi/Akamu/koko) as a meal

Akara - How to make Bean Cakes

Yield: 15 Balls

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Akara (Bean cake) is a deep-fried meal made from ground beans (Black eyed peas) and a host of other ingredients. It's one of the most common meals you'd find on the breakfast table in most Nigerian homes. it can be taken alone as a snack or served with Pap (akamu "Igbo"/ Ogi "Yoruba"/Koko"Hausa"), Bread, Garri, peppered stew e.t.c

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Ingredients

• •2 Cups Brown Beans
• •3 Chili pepper "Shombo" - Optional
• •2 Red bell pepper "Tatashey"
• •2 Scotch bonnet pepper "Ata rodo"
• •1 small Red onion
• •2 Seasoning cubes, Crushed
• •Salt to taste
• •Vegetable oil/ palm oil (For deep frying)

Instructions

1. Step 1: Sort the beans to separate the chaff from the beans. To remove the skin, there are two methods i.e The hand method & The Blender method. The hand method is the manual way of peeling beans and is much more difficult as it could take up to an hour to complete while the blender method is easier and could take about 5 minutes to complete.  Hand Method of removing beans skin: Soak the beans in water for like 10 mins or less. if you soak the beans for a longer period the skin would stick to the body of the beans thereby making it very difficult to wash off. Peel the skin off the beans by rubbing them between your hands and rinsing to allow the skins to float to the top. Sieve the brown skin out with clean water leaving the white part of the beans.  Blender Method of removing beans skin: Another method of washing beans to make it easier is to put the unwashed beans into a blender, Add water & pulse the blender for about 5 minutes. This doesn't break the beans but removes the skin. Sieve the brown skin out with clean water leaving the white part of the beans.
2. Step 2: Remove the seeds from the red bell pepper and wash. Place the washed beans (White) in the blender. Add the Red bell pepper (Tatashey), Scotch bonnet (Shombo), and onion into the Blender. Add a little water to enable the blades of the blender to move and blend till you get a smooth paste
3. Step 3: Put the mixture in a mortar, add Salt and Crushed Seasoning. Gradually stir the paste with a pestle for about 5 minutes. This is one of the secrets to getting very soft Akara balls. 
4. Step 4: Pour the vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat up. Spoon the mixture into the sizzling oil to form balls one spoon at a time and fry until golden brown making sure you flip frequently on each side.
5. Step 5: Remove balls and drain on absorbent kitchen paper. Serve with Hot sauce/ pepper as a snack or with pap(Ogi/Akamu/Koko) as a meal