Akra
Aside from being anappetizer, Akra can be eaten as a side dish as well. Haitians love to serveAkra at parties, along with fried beef, fried chicken, fried pork, and friedplantains. You could also put a condiment like pikliz on top of the dish orinclude a light salad with it. As you gain more experience in preparingHaitian, you will know which food combinations to use with Akra.Akra goes by many different names. It can be calledHaitian Accra, Malanga Fritters, or Haitian Accra Fritters. The Haitian peoplenormally eat Akra as an appetizer before their main lunch or dinner. Akra isprepared differently in each Haitian city, but the base ingredient of everyAkra recipe is a tropical root vegetable called Malanga. This root vegetable issaid to be the most hypoallergenic food that can be found anywhere in theworld. The Haitians love to add fish meat to their Akra forprotein purposes. Their two favorite fish meats to use are herring and codfish.But you don’t need to add any meat to the recipe because the outcome will tastefine as-is. The malanga and spices are tasty enough to satisfy your cravingsand hunger with no problem.
Ingredients
- 1 lb of Malanga (Peeled and cut into small pieces)
- ½ Green Pepper (chopped)
- 2 Scallions (chopped)
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 3 Sprigs Thyme Leaves
- 2 tbsp of Parsley (chopped)
- ¼ tsp of Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp of Salt
- ½ Scotch Bonnet Pepper (chopped)
- 2 Cups of Vegetable Oil
Instructions
- You will need a blender for this recipe, so make sure you have one. Thefirst step is to add all the food ingredients mentioned above into the blender.You don’t need to add the vegetable oil, though. Choose the “puree” setting onthe blender, or whatever is the closest thing to it. The goal is to turn all ofthe ingredients into a smooth liquid substance.
- After it is all mixed together, pour the mixture into a large bowl. Putthe bowl in the refrigerator and leave it there for approximately 30 minutes.That should be enough time to blend all the flavors together.
- Take out a frying pan and place it on the stovetop. Turn on the heat toits lowest setting. Add the vegetable oil to the frying pan and let it heat up.
- Take out the mixture from the refrigerator and add it to the frying pan.Stir it all around with a spoon so that the oil and mixture are combinedtogether.
- Let the new mixture fry in the frying pan for between 5 to 8 minutes.You should see it turn golden brown by that point.
- Turn off the heat. Give the Akra some time to cool off. Put it on anapkin to drain out any extra oil that is in there.
- Akra is meant to be served warm rather than hot. So, you don’t want ittoo cool or too hot. If it cooled down too much, then reheat it in themicrowave for a very small amount of time to make it warmer again.
Video
Notes
Haitian Akra Fritters are a tasty appetizer that your entire family will love. You don’t need to move to Haiti to try it out either. If you follow the recipe above, then you should have fried fritters in your own home within an hour. Just purchase all the ingredients above. Check your kitchen inventory and make sure you have a blender, frying pan, large bowl and refrigerator. Then you should be well equipped to handle this recipe.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
