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How to make Nigerian delicious Akara

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Akara Recipe: How to Make Akara, Kosai (Fried Beans Cake)


Photo of Akara Recipe: How to Make Akara, Kosai (Fried Beans Cake)
Akara Recipe (Kosai)
Akara recipe is a Nigerian Hausa bean cake (also called Kosai) made using ground bean paste and prepared by frying the ground beans. You will learn how to make Akara and get to prepare it yourself in this article. Akara can be made using beans flour or soaked beans, this is prepared by mixing bean paste with pepper, fresh onions and salt.

Akara Recipe: How to Make Akara, Kosai (Fried Beans Cake) video


Akara is one of the popular street foods sold by the road side in the morning and during the evening hours alongside with fried yam, potato chips and plantain chips. The common ways to enjoy akara food is to pair with custard, pap (ogi), and agege bread; most times, we even enjoy akara with some spicy pepper sauce. I love some crunchy vegetables in my akara balls, so I decided to add some spring onions to mine; you can take that away if you dont like it.
This simple breakfast recipe is really tasty, filling and most times crunchy depending on how you prepare the beans paste, It is a complete protein which you need to include in your breakfast menu. I used black eyed beans for this recipe, you can use any type of beans including honey beans or brown beans. However, for the peppers, if you are going to use Shombo, it advisable you take some of the seeds out as it can be very peppery.

To make the perfect akara here are important tips to note: never blend your beans with too much water, the beans paste needs to be thick and smooth. Dont let the oil be too hot when dropping the beans paste otherwise your akara will get brown quickly from the out while the inside will be uncooked. Also, watch my above YouTube video on how to fry akara perfectly.

Akara ingredients

  1. 1-2 cups of beans
  2. 3 chili peppers (Shombo) or (Ata roda)
  3. 1 large onion
  4. 1 stick spring onions, optional
  5. Salt to taste
  6. Cooking oil for frying
Ingredients for making akara
Ingredients for making akara

How to make Akara

  1. Measure beans into a bowl; add cold water to cover the beans. Leave the beans to rest for an hour to soak up the liquid and become soft.
  2. Now, with a little pressure rub the beans against your palms to peel the skin until they begin to separate from the beans.
  3. Add water to cover the beans, the skin will float to the surface of the water; pass the skin over a colander to strain.
  4. Repeat the same process until the bean skin is all peeled and you are left with clean beans. Rinse the beans with clean water and place in a blender; add some chopped onion and pepper.
  5. Add about 4 tablespoons of water to the beans and blend until the paste turns out very smooth. Dont blend your beans with a lot of water, the paste should be thick.
  6. You then need to fry the akara after blending the beans (See how to fry akara below)

How to Fry Akara

  1. Once the paste has been made, you now need to start frying the akara.
  2. Add some chopped onions, spring onions, salt to the beans paste and stir well to incorporate air.
  3. Add oil deep enough (about 3 inches deep) to the pan and allow to get heated. Use a spoon to scoop the bean paste to the oil a little at a time.
  4. Fry the paste on one side for about 3 minutes, once the downward sides are golden brown, flip over to the other side fry as well for few minutes
  5. When all the akara in the oil are completely, use a slotted spoon to take them out of the oil and drain on paper towel. Serve akara balls with custard, pap or with pepper sauce.

Steps on how to fry akara with pictures

soaking process of beans for akara
soaking process of beans for akara

You can also use mortar or blender to peel the bean if you don
You can also use mortar or blender to peel the bean if you don't want to use hand

Once the beans are peeled and rinsed, they should look like this
Once the beans are peeled and rinsed, they should look like this

The blended bean should have a thick consistency after blending it
The blended bean should have a thick consistency after blending it

Once the paste has been made, you now need to start frying the akara.
Add some chopped onions, spring onions, salt to the beans paste and stir well to incorporate air.
Drain akara balls in a colander lined with a paper towel to strain out excess oil
Drain akara balls in a colander lined with a paper towel to strain out excess oil
When all the akara in the oil are completely, use a slotted spoon to take them out of the oil and drain on paper towel. Serve akara balls with custard, pap or with pepper sauce.
Akara served with milk enriched flavored custard
Akara served with milk enriched flavored custard
Tasty akara recipe
Tasty akara recipe

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