Black Eye Pea Fritter Food

BLACK-EYED PEA FRITTERS

Steps:

• Place the black-eyed peas in a large bowl with enough hot water to cover. Soak for at least 15 minutes (longer, even overnight, is fine), until the skins easily peel off when rubbed between the palms of your hands. Rub the skins off the peas, letting the skins float to the top. Slowly pour out the water and the skins with it, leaving the peas in the bowl. Repeat until all the peas are cleaned.
• Drain the peas and place in a food processor along with the onion, baking soda, salt, a splash of water and the black and red pepper, if using. Process until a smooth batter forms, adding a little more water if necessary. The batter should be smoothly blended, similar to the consistency of light hummus.
• Pour oil into a large cast-iron skillet or other heavy, straight-sided pan to a depth of 1 inch. Heat oil to 365 degrees over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and, using a spoon, carefully drop 1 tablespoon of batter into the oil. Repeat until there are several dollops in the pan, being careful not to overcrowd. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes, turning the fritters once. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towel and keep warm. Repeat until all batter is used.
• To serve, split 1/4 baguette or a pita bread and fill with 3 or 4 fritters, a generous spoonful of pickled carrots, and some lettuce, tomato, onion and cilantro. (Alternatively, arrange accara, without the bread, on a platter and serve with drinks.) Serve immediately.

BLACK-EYE PEA FRITTER

Steps:

• In a bowl, cover the beans with water, and soak overnight in a cool or refrigerated place. After draining the beans, peel off the outer skins.
• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the beans until the are finely ground. Turn the mixture out into a bowl.
• In the bowl of the same food processor, put the onion, garlic, and scallions; process until finely chopped. Add onion mixture to beans, and add the rest of the spices. Put the mixture into the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.
• Heat the oil to 350 degrees F, using a # 40 ice cream scooper or a tablespoon, drop the mixture into the oil, and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels or brown paper bags.
• Serve with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce.
• Put the yogurt, cilantro, cucumber, garlic, lime juice, and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Put mixture into the refrigerator until ready to serve.

BLACK EYED PEA FRITTERS

Steps:

• In a large, deep frying pan, heat about 1/2-inch of oil to 350 degrees F.
• Mash cooked peas in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Shape into fritters, whatever size you desire. Carefully add fritters to the hot oil and fry until golden on 1 side. Carefully turn fritters over and continue frying until golden on the second side and cooked through in the middle. Remove and let drain on paper towels. Serve.

ACARAJE BLACK-EYED PEA FRITTERS WITH SHRIMP FILLING

Steps:

• Make the filling by placing the onion, ginger, garlic, chilli, and some salt into food processor. Purée until smooth. Heat the oil in a frying pan and pour the purée into it. Fry for 5 mins or until cooked through. Add the prawns, tomatoes and chopped coriander. Squeeze in the lime and add salt to taste. Cook for 3 mins, or until the prawns have cooked through. Remove from the heat.
• Drain and rinse the black-eyed peas. Pour into a food processor with the garlic and chili. Purée until smooth. Scrape into a bowl and add the onion, flour, salt, chilli powder and baking powder. Mix and roll into 16 balls.
• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Heat 8cm of the palm or vegetable oil in a wok or small heavy pan. When a small piece of bread sizzles, drop 4-5 balls into the oil. Fry until golden and crisp, about 4-5 mins. Drain on kitchen paper and repeat until they are all finished. You can keep them warm in the oven while you finish. Slice the fritters open down the centre and spoon the prawn filling in. Serve with hot sauce.

AKKRAS (BLACK EYE PEA FRITTERS)

Steps:

• Soak the black eyed beans in plenty of cold water for 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain the beans and then, with a brisk actions, rub the beans between the palms of your hands to remove the skins.
• Return the beans to the bowl, top with water and the skins will float to the surface. Discard the skins and soak the beans again for 3 hours.
• Place the beans in a blender or food processor with the onion, chili, if using and a little water. Blend to make a thick paste. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and whisk for a few minutes.
• Heat the oil in a large heavy sauce pan and fry spoonfuls of the mixture for 4 minutes until golden brown.

AKARA (BLACK-EYED PEA FRITTERS)

Steps:

• Clean the black-eyed peas in running water. Soak them in water for at least a few hours or overnight. After soaking them, rub them together between your hands to remove the skins. Rinse to wash away the skins and any other debris. Drain them in a colander.
• Crush, grind, or mash the black-eyed peas into a thick paste. Add enough water to form a smooth, thick paste of a batter that will cling to a spoon. Add all other ingredients (except oil). Some people allow the batter to stand for a few hours (overnight in the refrigerator); doing so improves the flavor.
• Heat oil in a deep skillet. Beat the batter with a wire whisk or wooden spoon for a few minutes. Make fritters by scooping up a spoon full of batter and using another spoon to quickly push it into the hot oil. Deep fry the fritters until they are golden brown. Turn them frequently while frying. (If the fritters fall apart in the oil, stir in a beaten egg, some cornmeal or crushed breadcrumbs.).
• Serve with an African Hot Sauce or salt, as a snack, an appetizer, or a side dish.
• Variation: Add a half cup of finely chopped leftover cooked meat to the batter before frying; or add a similar amount dried shrimp or prawns.

BLACK-EYED PEA FRITTERS WITH HOT PEPPER SAUCE

Steps:

• • Remove the skins from the beans by adding them to a large bowl, filling the bowl with water, agitating the beans, and fishing out the skins that float to the top with a fine mesh strainer. Rinse beans well.
• • In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the beans, onion, peanuts, thyme, cayenne, vinegar, water, and salt and pulse until completely smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• • Preheat the oven to 200° F.
• • Remove the batter from the refrigerator, add the bell pepper and cornmeal, and beat with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes.
• • In a medium-size saucepan over high heat, warm the coconut oil until hot but not smoking, about 5 minutes.
• • Lower the oil to medium high, and in batches of 5, spoon the batter into the oil, 1 tablespoon at a time. Fry, stirring around, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. If necessary, adjust the temperature to ensure that the fritters do not cook too quickly.
• • Transfer the fritters to a paper towel-lined plate and allow them to drain. Transfer the drained fritters to a baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm.
• • Serve hot with Hot Pepper Sauce .

BLACK-EYED PEA FRITTERS WITH HOT PEPPER RELISH

Steps:

• Soak peas for fritters:
• Put peas in water to cover by 2 inches and soak 8 hours. Drain in a colander.
• Make relish:
• Purée bell peppers, onion, tomatoes, chile, and salt in 2 batches in a food processor.
• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then stir in purée (use caution as it will splatter). Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of liquid is evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
• Make fritters:
• Purée peas, onion, and chile in food processor until as smooth as possible, then blend in egg and salt. With motor running, add 3 tablespoons water and blend until smooth and fluffy (add remaining tablespoon water if necessary to form a batter just thin enough to drop from a spoon).
• Fry fritters:
• Heat oil in a 4-quart heavy pot (preferably cast-iron) until thermometer registers 360°F. Working in batches of 8, gently drop tablespoons of batter into hot oil, using a small spoon to scrape batter from tablespoon. Fry, stirring constantly (to prevent fritters from browning too quickly), until golden, about 2 minutes, then transfer to paper towels to drain. Return oil to 360°F between batches.