flipAccara (black-eyed pea fritters)
Accara (black-eyed pea fritters)
Why this dish? Accara are the quintessential street snack in Dakar: bought hot on the street corner, wrapped in bread with spicy sauce. For Akon, a child of two worlds, it is the popular taste of the Senegalese street, the everyday food of the neighborhoods he knows well.
Small golden fritters made from black-eyed pea puree, fried, crispy outside and fluffy inside, served with a spicy sauce (kaani) and sometimes slipped into bread.
Accara, my friend, is our street food, the thing you grab hot by the roadside when you're a little hungry. You see the lady frying them in front of you, she slips them into a piece of bread with her homemade spicy sauce — and then you're happy. The black-eyed pea is an African pride, it's grown here forever. Me, who grew up between two continents, that taste is the streets of Dakar in my mouth.
- •Black-eyed peas (niébé) — one bowl, soaked and peeled (base)
- •Onion, garlic — a little (aromatics)
- •Chili — to taste (spice)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
- •Frying oil — for frying (cooking)
Accara (black-eyed pea fritters)
Small golden fritters made from black-eyed pea puree, fried, crispy outside and fluffy inside, served with a spicy sauce (kaani) and sometimes slipped into bread.
Why this dish? Accara are the quintessential street snack in Dakar: bought hot on the street corner, wrapped in bread with spicy sauce. For Akon, a child of two worlds, it is the popular taste of the Senegalese street, the everyday food of the neighborhoods he knows well.
Accara, my friend, is our street food, the thing you grab hot by the roadside when you're a little hungry. You see the lady frying them in front of you, she slips them into a piece of bread with her homemade spicy sauce — and then you're happy. The black-eyed pea is an African pride, it's grown here forever. Me, who grew up between two continents, that taste is the streets of Dakar in my mouth.
Ingredients (period version)
- Black-eyed peas (niébé) — one bowl, soaked and peeled (base)
- Onion, garlic — a little (aromatics)
- Chili — to taste (spice)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
- Frying oil — for frying (cooking)
Ingredients
- Black-eyed peas (dried) — 250 g (base)
- 1 onion + 2 garlic cloves — 1 onion (aromatics)
- Fresh chili — 1 (to taste) (spice)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
- Neutral oil — for frying (cooking)
Method
- Soak the black-eyed peas for several hours, rub to remove skins, then rinse.
- Blend with onion, garlic, chili, and salt until a thick, airy paste forms.
- Beat the paste with a spoon to aerate (it should swell and become frothy).
- Drop spoonfuls into hot oil and fry until golden brown.
- Drain and serve hot with kaani spicy sauce, or in a piece of bread.
How it was made : Black-eyed peas are one of the oldest domesticated legumes in West Africa. Accara (akara) have been prepared for generations as market food; the technique of beating the batter to aerate it, without yeast, gives the fritters their lightness. The same recipe traveled to Brazil (acarajé) through the slave trade, testifying to the African diaspora.
The contemporary twist : Served as tapas with three sauces (spicy kaani, onion-lemon, parsley mayo) for an appetizer board with Dakar colors.
Akon · Charactorium
