Akara Balls and Nuggets (Nigerian Akara)

A traditional family breakfast anytime, akara is as old as i can remember and the best thing about it is that it requires little or no ingredients to make these balls. The only glitch to it is getting the batter right to make that perfect smooth, round and non oil soaked balls.

If you have access to a mortar and pestle, you can virtually not go wrong with getting that perfect akara batter. However, if you don’t have a mortar and pestle like me or want to make your akara without using that mortar, then your whisk is your friend.

The beans for Akara balls and nuggets (the tiny ones for little hands…perfectly healthy finger food for toddlers) needs to be blended smoothly with little water. You need a powerful blender or otherwise you will have to use an ordinary blender and if it doesn’t blend smoothly,you will have to resort to your mortar and pestle. I blended mine with a 1000watts NutriNinja extractor and it does the job perfectly. If you are in Nigeria, you can check for blenders on Konga, Shoprite, Game or elsewhere.

Akara Balls and Nuggets Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Beans (black-eyed or brown)
• 1 small Onion
• Salt and Pepper to taste (reduce for younger ones)
• Water for blending

Method:

1. Peel and wash off the back of the beans. Try not to over-soak the beans in water as it affects the final mixture and the tendency to form perfect balls when frying.
2. Add beans, onions and pepper in a blender. Add water to ¼ level of the beans and blend to a smooth thick puree. Your beans mixture should not be runny.
3. If using a mortar, pour into the mortar and using a pestle, blend or turn clockwise to incorporate air, making the mixture increase or rise. If you have no mortar, put the beans mixture in a bowl and using your egg whisk, start whisking to incorporate air for about 2 or more minutes.
4. Meanwhile, your oil would have been put on the cooker and getting heated up. Test the hotness by putting a drop of the mixture in the oil and see if it starts frying and floats on top immediately.
5. Take the quantity of mixture you want to fry at a time into another bowl and then add salt (never add salt to the whole batter when it is not ready to go into the hot oil…it makes the mixture go flat). Scoop into the hot oil with your spoon or your fingers (for the nuggets) and fry till golden brown, turning the other side to brown too.
6. Drain in a paper towel and serve with pap, custard, porridge oats or any other cereal.

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