Acarajé , or akara, is a traditional Afro-Brazilian dish that experts consider an emblematic dish of the state of Bahia. As mentioned before, it consists of fried quenelles made with white bean dough, onion, and salt, fried in palm oil.
Religiously speaking, these small snacks are considered sacred. They are usually an offering to Orixás, deities of the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion. The word acarajé means "to eat fireballs," and they are traditionally very spicy.
The traditional accompaniments to these little delicacies can vary: spicy chili sauces, shrimp sautéed with onions, vatapá , caruru ( okra puree stew ) , Brazilian vinaigrette, or even a salad. We filled them with vatapá and Brazilian vinaigrette, and garnished them with sautéed shrimp.
Vatapa is a dish made with day-old bread, dried shrimp, peanuts, cashews, onion, fresh ginger, coconut milk, and a mixture of fresh aromatic green herbs called cheiro verde . This mixture can include parsley , chives, mint, and sometimes cilantro.
Dried shrimp, often smoked, are traditional in this recipe, but we've used fresh shrimp, which are the easiest to find. We've also substituted olive oil for palm oil, which is more readily available. Either way, the result is delicious . Here's the recipe!
Recipe Information
- Preparation time : 45 minutes
- Cooking time : 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Total time : 2 hours (plus soaking and resting times)
- Servings : 5
- Category : Appetizer
- Type of cuisine : Brazilian
- Calories per serving (kcal) : 705
Acarajé ingredients
For the acarajé:
- 250g of black-eyed peas
- 125g of grated onions
- Salt
- Black pepper to taste
- Olive oil for frying
For the vatapá :
- 30g of stale bread
- 100 ml of milk
- 50g of peeled prawns
- 30g of peanuts
- 30 g of cashews
- 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
- 250 ml of coconut milk
- 60g of grated onion
- 50 ml of olive oil
- 60g of peeled prawns
- ½ tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley
- ½ tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ tablespoon of chopped fresh mint
- Salt to taste
For the Brazilian vinaigrette and garnish:
- 40g of finely chopped red onion ( brunoise )
- 40g of peeled and seeded tomatoes, finely chopped ( concasse )
- 40g of finely chopped green pepper
- 40g of finely chopped red pepper
- 40g of finely chopped yellow bell pepper
- 1 finely chopped red chili
- 1 fresh red chili, julienned, for garnish
- 30 ml of apple cider vinegar
- Salt
- Ground pepper to taste
- 90 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 200g of whole fresh prawns for decoration
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- Salt to taste
How to make acarajé
We soak 250g of dried black-eyed peas in water. The water should be at least three times the volume of the beans. You can put them in a food processor before soaking and give them a quick pulse to break them down.
We soak them for 8 hours, gently squeeze them with our hands, and remove the floating skins using a strainer. We discard all the water and soak them again for another eight hours. We repeat the process of squeezing, removing the skins with a strainer, changing the water, and soaking every 8 hours until we have completed 24 hours, or until all the skins have been removed.
We drain the beans and let them rest in a colander to remove excess water.
We put the beans in the blender along with 125g of grated onion and blend until we have a silky bean paste.
We season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and mix with a whisk to make the dough fluffy.
We heat olive oil and form quenelles with a couple of spoons.
Fry the quenelles in hot oil until golden brown on all sides. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
To prepare the vatapa, we chop 30g of stale bread and soak it in 100ml of milk.
We put 50g of peeled prawns, 30g of peanuts, 30g of cashews, 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger, half of 250ml of coconut milk and the drained bread into the glass of a hand blender, and blend until we have a puree.
We fry 60g of grated onion in 50ml of olive oil in a saucepan and when it is translucent, we add 60g of peeled and headless prawns.
Add the bread and nut puree, and the remaining 125 ml of coconut milk, mix, and continue cooking over very low heat for approximately 25 minutes. Stir occasionally; it may appear to curdle, but simply stir again to emulsify the cream. If it becomes too thick, you can add a little more coconut milk.
Add ½ tablespoon of chopped parsley, ½ tablespoon of chopped cilantro, ½ tablespoon of mint, and salt to taste. Remove from heat and set aside.
For the Brazilian vinaigrette, combine 40g finely diced red onion ( brunoise), 40g peeled, seeded, and finely diced tomato ( concasse ), 40g finely diced green bell pepper, 40g finely diced red bell pepper, 40g finely diced yellow bell pepper, and 1 finely diced fresh red chili in a bowl. Add 30ml apple cider vinegar, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and mix. Drizzle with 90ml extra virgin olive oil, mix, and set aside. This vinaigrette is best after resting in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Sauté 200g of unpeeled prawns in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt. Set aside for final garnish.
To serve the acarajé, we make a cut in half to the fried quenelles , but without cutting completely.
We fill it with a little vatapá and cover it with some Brazilian vinaigrette and a sautéed prawn on top.
We finished decorating the acarajé by adding a julienned strip of 1 red chili.
Easy-to-prepare summary
- To make acarajé , we soak the beans in water for 24 hours.
- Every 8 hours we squeeze them and remove the floating skins.
- We drain the beans when they no longer have skins
- We blend the beans together with the grated onion
- Season with salt and black pepper, and whisk.
- We formed quenelles with this mixture, using a couple of spoons.
- We fry them in hot oil until golden brown.
- To make vatapa we soak the bread in milk
- We blend the prawns, peanuts, cashews, fresh ginger, half the coconut milk and the bread until we have a puree
- We fry the grated onion in olive oil and add the prawns.
- We add the bread puree, nuts and the rest of the coconut milk, and cook for 25 minutes over very low heat.
- Add the parsley, cilantro, mint and salt to taste, and set aside.
- To make the Brazilian vinaigrette, mix the chopped red onion, chopped tomato, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and chopped red chili pepper, season and spice.
- We sauté the prawns for decoration in olive oil and season with salt
- We cut the acarajé in half
- We fill them with a little vatapá , a little Brazilian vinaigrette, and a sautéed shrimp.
- We decorate the acarajé with a strip of fresh red chili.
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