AkARA (BEAN CAKE)

Healthy Fried Akara.

Akara is one of my favourite Nigerian meal, so soft, fluffy and yummy. The best ones are the deep fried ones which looks like puff-puff. Akara is nutritious as they are high in protein, vitamin A, C and calcium. Two medium deep fried Akara is ideal for the day, but people will hardly consume that amount which means they can easily consume too much oil and salt which can increase cholesterol level, cause bloating due to water retention and can increase the risk of hypertension, heart failure and can also lead to weight gain. This might not be the case for some people if they are athletics but will still need to be aware of the salt intake. This Akara recipe contains less oil which makes it healthy to consume twice of it. compared to the deep fried recipe. The ingredients required for this recipe are listed below.

Ingredients

Note: You Can use beans but will have to soak, peel the skin (I would not because the skin is high in fibre) and blend it with pepper, which takes time but it's more nutritious. However, I did not have any beans in my cupboard so I used the powdered one, which made the preparation process much easier. I also added a lot of spices to this recipe but you do not have to.

-Bean Powder 50g 

-Ground pepper

-Salt pinch 

-Maggi 1/2 

-Black pepper

-Turmeric (optional) 

-Water

-Olive oil. 1/2 tsp 

You can add onions but I did not.

How;

-Put all the dry ingredient in a bowl and mix well.

-Add water gradually and mix till viscous, making sure there are no lumps. The mixture should not be too thick, as it will get thicker with time, but this only applies if you using bean powder.

-Using a non-stick pan, brush it with oil; to avoid extra sticking.

-Add the mixture using a spoon and cook on low heat for both sides, about a minute for each side,  depending on the thickness.

Can serve with oat porridge, pap or custard.

Thanks for visiting.