EASY BREAKFAST SPECIAL: AKARA AND BREAD

Imagine starting your day with a mouth-watering and satisfying breakfast that is easy to make, nourishing, and delicious. Akara and Bread! This Combo is one of the most eaten and made easy breakfasts in Nigeria. Breakfast meals should be quick and easy to make, meals you can prepare and eat before you go out on a working day, to school, or church. 

Most people still choose to eat the surplus from the previous day’s dinner which might be deliberate because they don’t know what to eat for breakfast. Some people have bread and hot chocolate before leaving to avoid getting late. And there’s a majority that takes their time and prepares breakfast before leaving the house.

In today’s blog post, I’d share a recipe for my FAVORITE easy breakfast special that will become your new favorite as well: Akara and Bread. Better yet Akara and Banana Bread🤭. This recipe is one of the easiest vegetarian or vegan-friendly foods. 

Akara is a popular savory fritter made with beans, specifically black-eyed peas. It is also known as bean cakes, bean balls, koosé/kosai, and acarajé. Akara is vegetarian-friendly, a plant-based goodness, crispy, golden, tasty, and considered irresistible especially when it’s out of oil.

I like to pair mine with soft, fluffy bread, and a bowl of banana-flavored custard; this breakfast combo is a match made in heaven. It also pairs well with corn pudding(Pap) and Custard or can be enjoyed on its own as well. Getting to the best part🤭 It is absolutely easy to make!

Akara: Lockdown MVP

While growing up, I always look forward to eating akara mostly on Saturdays. Nothing beats waking up on a Saturday morning to eat Akara beside a bowl of pap /custard. Or stuffed into a freshly baked bread loaf. This easy common street food is always a choice of breakfast for most families including mine especially during the Covid 19 pandemic. 

With the entire world on lockdown, Akara was one meal we made every week at home(at least twice in a twice every week!). My siblings and parents love Akara very much, which means one thing, I get to make it often. I also enjoy eating it with hot pepper tomato sauce.

Moving At Last

I like my personal space a lot. Whenever I am exhausted, I like to arrange things, just to distract myself, then eat a good meal and sleep. Recently, my school apartment had some issues that required a fix. I couldn’t leave the house immediately because it was mid-session and end-of-semester exams were close by and getting a new place would be difficult.

But moving out was one of my top priorities. After weeks of waiting and enduring the condition of my house, I finally got a new place after my exams, and the good part is it’s closer to school. The news was I was finally moving out! Yaay!😁 The first thing I will make after moving into the new apartment is  Akara and bread. 

Jane’s Masterpiece

As I was preparing to move out, I was also preparing to move into my new place though not physically but mentally. I have an entire list of the things I’ll get when moving in and Jane’s paintings are one of them. Jane is a great artist. I met her through a good friend of mine. I wouldn’t trade for gold😂.

When I met Jane and saw her paintings for the very first time, I was blown away. It was nothing like I’d seen before. I told myself I’d be getting one framed in my room and now seemed like the perfect time to get one. So I got one of her paintings framed and I even used it as my phone’s wallpaper.  

Jane’s Afro Glitch Painting

The Preparation

Akara is made from a simple paste of black-eyed beans, fresh peppers(red or yellow). I like pepper a lot so I use as many as I can get, onions, salt, and seasoning. I always go further to add in a few more things into my paste, like hot oil, crayfish and spring onions.

You can get these beans from any African market stall. You are not supposed to make Akara with the bean skin on. I remove the skin from the beans before blending them into a paste. Deskinning beans is a simple process. Once the beans are deskinned, I blend them into a paste, similar to making moi-moi (Another Nigerian Special dish made with beans). 

Akara paste is simple: beans, onions, bell peppers, salt, and a few extra ingredients which are completely optional. Asides pairing with bread, you can combine with other fried foods like yam or potatoes to have an opportunity to express your culinary creativity . 

Why You’ll Love This Akara Recipe Too

• Akara is irresistible and tasty!
• It is easy to prepare and you can easily double the batch as well.
• It makes a perfect easy and healthy breakfast, snack, or light dinner.
• It is veggie-based, gluten-free, and low-carb
• Akara is a crowd-pleaser, and everyone’s favorite!
• This recipe brings you a taste of Africa.
• You can freeze the paste for up to 90 days (at -18°C). I suggest making a lot whenever you want it.
• Akara pairs well with bread and goes perfectly with pap or custard.🤤

Footnote

Barko shares a lovely family breakfast recipe which reminds me of another favourite street food around Mumbai and other parts of Western India. I marvel at the combination of that soft bun, savoury fritter and sweet custard.

I am reminded that sometimes something untried is often what intrigues and tickles the imagination. Much like my delight at trying “poha with sev and jalebi” a savoury, spicy and sweet breakfast combination – another popular street food in Indore and other parts of Madhya Pradesh (a central region of India). Or the utter dismay at finding that I had no taste for the much-hyped truffle oil fries or Beluga black caviar. So how is Akara going to taste? Methinks- pretty good, eh?

I leave with this note as a reminder that not all arguments and questions are bad. Sometimes, not being sure is a good sign to being open to new experiences in life. 🙂

Akara is also good for evening snacks, appetizers, and as a simple, comforting snack. If you are looking for an easy breakfast or late-night meal option that isn’t expensive, this recipe is for you.