I’ll come clean; I’m superstitious. In a measured way. For instance I would not walk underneath a ladder for safety reasons but if that also avoids bad luck all the better. I love the magic in ‘good luck’. Though difficult to quantify the impact of ‘good luck’, my thinking is I lose nothing to eat something on the first day of the New Year to bring me luck potentially. Therefore black eyed peas are always on the menu for the first bite, literally after the chimes of the New Year have rung in my house.
Black eyed peas have had culinary roots in the southern U.S. for over 300 years being a staple of ‘soul food’. One account of their ‘good fortune’ relates back to the Civil War when General Sherman stripped the countryside of vegetation, sparing this particular plant which fed those surviving the war. The roots of the good luck tradition are foggy however the adherence to the ritual of dining on even a bite first thing in the New Year holds strong.
The Black Eyed Pea (which is truly a nutritious legume and not a pea) most likely originated in West Africa before migrating to U.S. soil to found new food traditions. I try to make a new recipe each New Year (despite loving my staples of Hoppin John and Coconut Black-Eyed Pea soup). This year I made a West African dish of Black Eyed Pea Fritters and Hot Sauce also known as ‘Akara’. The name is underwhelming to the dish I assure you. Sparked with spicy, layered flavors this dish is well loved in my household.
Admittedly this is a ‘labor of love’ dish. I adapted the recipe from a African Cooking booklet as part of the ‘Foods of the World’ Time Life Book series from the 1970’s. When first reading the recipe I noted it called for dousing the dry black eyed peas with warm water, rubbing them to remove their skins and repeating. After visually surveying my dried beans I concluded there were no skins and approached the start of the recipe differently soaking the beans in boiling water to soften them. It was at the end of this step I realize indeed they DO have skins which when removed leave the beans a nubile, albino shade having shed their iconic ‘black eye’.
This portion of the recipe is laborious, I won’t lie. I had roped my teen daughter into making the recipe with me and shortly into the defrocking of the beans I put out the full family call to arms, pulling people away from cozy reading nooks and newfound Christmas electronics to help. It became a full family ‘food meditation’ repetitively pinching off the skins, placing beans in one bowl and rinsing our hands in another. We all could imagine groups of West African women doing the same, stripping the peas en masse for their eventual glorious destiny in these delectable fritters. Though time consuming, the end result of the golden brown, light, fluffy fritters paired with a fresh, spicy sauce was worth it; so say children and adults alike in my house.
Recipe
Black-Eyed Pea Fritters with Hot Sauce {Akara}
Ingredients
Ingredients for Fritters:
- 1 ¼ cup dried Black Eyed Peas (approximately ½ pound)
- ¼ cup Yellow Onion , coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Ginger , peeled and chopped
- ½ cup Water
- ¼ teaspoon ground Cayenne Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
Ingredients for the Hot Sauce:
- 1 small Yellow Onion , peeled and coarsely chopped
- 4 large Garlic Cloves , peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 medium ripe Tomato , peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
- 2 fresh Serrano Chilies , about 2 inches long, stemmed, deseeded and chopped*
- 1 tablespoon fresh Ginger , peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 1/8 teaspoon ground Cayenne Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (do not use Olive Oil)
Instructions
Instructions for preparing the Black Eyed Peas:
- Place the black-eyed peas in a heat resistant bowl and cover with enough boiling water to cover them by 2 inches. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Note: Preparation of other ingredients can be done while the black-eyed peas are soaking. Preheat oven to lowest setting at this time (135 degrees or whatever your oven lowest setting is).
- After the black-eyed peas have soaked for 30 minutes, assemble a second bowl with warm water (will be to dip your hands to remove the skins) and a bowl for the skinned black-eyed peas. To skin the Black-Eyed Peas: Pinch the black-eyed pea at the ‘black eye’ and pull off the skin. The skins are not visible at first but after starting you will be able to see them. The pea’s ‘black eye’ is part of the skin so once the skin is off the black eye is also removed. The skins stick to the fingers so once you have pinched the skin off, rinse your fingers in the bowl of water to free the skin from your hand and place the skinned black-eyed pea in the third bowl. Repeat until all peas have been skinned.
Instructions for preparing the Hot Sauce:
- Using a blender, combine the onion, garlic, tomato, chilies, ginger, tomato paste, cayenne pepper and salt and process at high speed to blend into a puree.
- In an 8 inch or 10 inch heavy skillet heat the vegetable oil over moderate heat. When heated add the puree mixture, stirring constantly, and cook briskly until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon (3-5 minutes). Set aside or covered in a heat proof bowl in the warmed oven until fritters are done.
Instructions for Making the Fritters:
- Pour the vegetable oil into a deep fryer or heavy saucepan allowing 2-3 inches depth. The pan should be large enough to allow 6-8 tablespoons size fritters to fry at once with room. Heat the oil until it reaches to 375 degrees on a deep frying thermometer. Secondarily line a large baking sheet with 2 layers of paper towels and set aside.
- Using a blender or food processor, combine black-eyed peas, onion, ginger, water, cayenne pepper and salt. Blend at high speed to puree, scraping sides of blender or food processor bowl if needed. It should yield a light, cream colored puree.
- When the oil is hot, transfer the black-eyed pea puree to a bowl and whisk briskly for 2-3 minutes. To cook Fritters: Drop tablespoons of fritter batter into heated oil (using a second spoon to free the batter from the tablespoon if needed). Using a heat resistant slotted spoon gently turn the fritters until golden brown, approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove the cooked fritters with a slotted spoon, allowing any oil to drain back into the pan, and place on the prepared baking tray lined with paper towels. Place in the warmed oven while continuing to make the rest of the fritters, placing cooked fritters on the tray in the oven.
Serving Fritters:
- Arrange fritters on a platter with the bowl of sauce. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Other New Year’s Good Luck Recipes you may like:
About.com Black-Eyed Pea Recipe list
Afrolems says
Super excited to see Akara in a different platform being appreciated. Great job
SaraK says
Just wanted to add that you peeled those beans the hard way.
You can soak the beans in lukewarm water for about 5 minutes – that loosens up the skin. With both hands, grab a handful and rub them vigorously against each other – as if you’re hand-washing. Since you’re going to blend the beans anyway, it does not matter if they break into little pieces.
As you do this, the peels will be released and float to the top. You can dump out the water with peels, add more water and repeat.
Some people do this so well and can be done within 5-10 minutes. I’m a newbie, so it took about 30 minutes for an entire pound.
Cheers!
Toni Dash says
Well Sara you’ve made my morning with both of your comments! The end result was worth the task of skinning the beans but I’m always game for something to make it easier. Thanks for the tip on the Moi-Moi. Maybe that will be my good luck dish for this New Year!
SaraK says
After the laborious task of peeling Black-Eyed Peas for Moi-Moi(another Nigerian food) yesterday, I searched online for peeled Black-Eyed Peas and found this page.
I’m Nigerian and know what akara is, but I honestly did a double-take when I saw your picture. 🙂
What a lovely story.
If you’re interested in Moi-Moi, it’s made similarly to akara but the puree is wrapped either in foil packets or banana leaves and steamed. So delicious!
Lea Ann says
I knock on wood .. and eat black eyed peas on NY Day. 🙂 Great sounding recipe Toni.
Chris says
Taking the skins off looks time consuming, but the results look spectacular. Great recipe.
Robin O says
Like you I tried something different with black-eyed peas for New Year’s good eating. This recipe is indeed worth trying. Glad you had a band of “all-hands” to come to the skinning rescue so you all could enjoy the results. Happy New Year and Good Fortune to you and all.
john@kitchenriffs says
This is one of those recipes I’ve read about but have never eaten, and actually totally forgot about it. It looks so good! And it’s a great new way to use black-eyed peas (one of my favorite legumes). I always have them every New Year’s, usually in a soup with collard greens. But I should try these – who can resist anything fried Particularly when accompanied by a “frisky” sauce? (Good work, frisky, and not one that’s used enough.) Thanks for this. And Happy New Year’s to you and yours.