Akara

What makes it akara

• Black-eyed beans, peeled — no skins.
• Ground with onion and scotch bonnet, and beaten until airy.
• Deep-fried, traditionally in palm or groundnut oil.

Where it comes from

The beans are soaked and rubbed until their skins float away, then ground to a thick paste with onion and scotch bonnet and beaten hard to trap air — that's what makes akara light rather than dense. Spoonfuls go into hot oil, often by the roadside in the morning, and come out crisp outside and soft within.

It's a breakfast with pap, the fermented maize porridge, or stuffed into soft bread. The fritter travelled with enslaved Yoruba people to Brazil, where in Bahia it's still sold as acarajé.

How it varies

Koose

Ghana's version, a street breakfast with koko, millet porridge.

Acarajé

Bahia's, split and filled with prawns and a spiced paste.