Flavoursome, crispy and really delicious.
Akara or black eyed bean fritters are widely eaten across West Africa and have even found their way to Brazil and the American South where they’ve been given cultural twists but the heart of the recipes have stayed the same.
I’ve adapted this recipe to make it super quick by using cooked cartons of black eyed beans, blitzing it in the food processor, adding spice and frying. It makes the perfect starter and is completely vegan. Dip them into hot pepper sauce and serve up with Esquites.
I discovered Mexican street corn through endless posts of them on Instagram and I decided to see if they lived up to the hype. Yes, they do! Here’s the original recipe I used.
Smoky sweet corn jazzed up with creamy cheese, chilli and fresh herbs. It’s a good one!
Makes 12 little fritters
Prep 10 mins
Cook 15 mins
Total 25 mins
Ingredients
For the fritters
2 x 400g carton black eyed beans, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp plain wholemeal flour
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp baking powder
Sunflower oil, for frying
For the street corn salad
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp sea salt
400g corn kernels, cut from 4 medium corn cobs
1 tbsp mayonnaise
60g feta cheese, finely crumbled
4 spring onions, thinly sliced (green part only)
A handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Method
Make the fritters first, drain and rinse the black eyed beans. Pour into a food processor and blitz for a few seconds (it should have a chunky consistency and you may need to add a little water)*.
Place into a bowl and add red onion, garlic, green chilli, flour, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, baking powder and black pepper. Mix well and shape into 12 small patties (about 2 tbsp of the mixture per patty).
In a wok heat 500ml of sunflower oil (drop a tiny piece of bread in and if it bubbles it’s hot enough) and fry 3 fritters at a time until golden brown and crisp. Drain any excess oil using kitchen paper. Continue until the mixture is finished and keep warm in the oven.
Using the same wok, heat oil over a high heat. Add corn kernels and sea salt tossing a couple of times. Leave to cook for a couple of minutes on one side until the corn chars. Stir and repeat on the other side until the corn is charred all over. Toss and stir for a few minutes until cooked through.
Place the mixture into a bowl and add mayonnaise, feta, spring onions, coriander, green chilli, lime juice. Sprinkle over chilli flakes and serve up!
Notes
*You can mash the beans using a potato masher if preferred!
