Brazil · Brazil

Acaraje (Brazilian Black-Eyed Pea Fritters)

Name: Acaraje (Brazilian Black-Eyed Pea Fritters)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Brazil
Ingredients: black-eyed peas, soaked and peeled 400 g; onion, chopped 60 g; fine salt 5 g; palm oil 500 ml; vatapa paste 150 g; dried shrimp 30 g; spicy pepper sauce 30 g

Black-eyed pea fritters split and stuffed with vatapa, dried shrimp and pepper sauce.

40 minutes · 4 servings · Moderate

Acarajé is the Afro-Brazilian fritter sold in open-front stands in Bahia, and it is split and filled to order rather than served whole. The batter is made from black-eyed pea flour, which gives it a light, almost creamy crumb instead of a heavy one. Shrimp vatapa, dried shrimp, cassava starch and hot pepper sauce go in after frying, and the pepper is not optional.

Ingredients

black-eyed peas, soaked and peeled400 g
onion, chopped60 g
fine salt5 g
palm oil500 ml
vatapa paste150 g
dried shrimp30 g
spicy pepper sauce30 g

Directions

1
Blend beans with onion and salt one minute to a coarse paste.
2
Drop spoonfuls into palm oil at one hundred eighty degrees Celsius; fry six minutes until golden.
3
Split fritters open; stuff with vatapa, dried shrimp and pepper sauce.
4
Serve hot as a snack.

Source: WorldBite Editorial · WorldBite Proprietary Editorial Content