Vegan acarajé with vatapá
* Plus 12 hours of soaking
Acarajé with vatapá is a very typical dish from Brazil, especially from Bahia. It is a very tasty dish that brings together African, Indigenous and Portuguese culinary influences (as is the case with much of Brazilian cuisine), since acarajé is one of the preparations introduced to the country by the people brought from Africa as slaves in the 16th century.
This exquisite starter is crispy on the outside and tender and creamy on the inside, with a mild, exotic flavour enlivened by the bright kick of the topping.
In many ways, acarajé with vatapá is reminiscent of traditional bombas, but instead of potato it is made with beans, resulting in a kind of stuffed legume ball. Another difference is that the filling, rather than going in before frying, is added once the acarajé has been fried.
The main ingredient of acarajé is the black-eyed pea, a legume from the pea family that originally comes from Africa and is known in Brazil as feijão fradinho. Being a type of pea gives it a very distinctive flavour and tenderness.
As for vatapá, other ways to enjoy its delicate flavour and creaminess are to eat it as a main dish, as a side for white rice, on slices of toasted bread or on canapés.
Nutritionally, this recipe is rich in protein, fibre, lecithin, flavonoids, essential omega-6 fatty acids, allicin, alliin, terpenoids, beta-carotene, lycopene, phytosterols, tryptophan, carbohydrates, choline, cinnamic acid, acetic acid, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), vitamins A, C, E and B-group vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B9 or folic acid); sulphur, calcium, copper, chromium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, selenium, sodium and, in smaller amounts, zinc.
Categories
Measurement system
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For the acarajé
For the vatapá
For the garnish
Notes
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- Step 1Soak the black-eyed peas for 12 hours.
- Step 2After this time, drain the water, rinse the peas and put them in a bowl. Chop the onion and add it to the bowl along with the white pepper, the chopped chives and the salt. Stir so that the ingredients mix well and run them through a food processor until you get a uniform paste. Transfer the paste to a bowl, cover it and let it rest for 1 hour.
- Step 3Meanwhile, prepare the vatapá. To do this, finely chop the onion and the pepper and heat the oil in a frying pan. When the oil is warm, add the onion and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Step 4Add the pepper, stir and cook over medium heat for 7 minutes, until the pepper is soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Step 5Take the bread crumb, put it in a bowl and add the coconut milk. Mix by hand to form a dough, add the salt, mix again and set aside.
- Step 6In another bowl, put the cashews, garlic, white pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, ginger and lemon juice and blend everything with the blender until it forms a paste. Add the chopped parsley, the bread crumb and coconut milk mixture we prepared earlier, and the sautéed onion and pepper. Mix everything well and set aside.
- Step 7Prepare the garnish by washing the tomato, removing the seeds and cutting it into small pieces. Transfer them to a bowl, add the lemon juice, salt, pepper and chopped parsley and mix very well. Set aside.
- Step 8With the bean mixture, form as many evenly sized balls as the number of acarajés you want to make. Once all the balls are ready, heat the oil in a fairly deep frying pan and, when it is very hot, fry them in batches. When golden brown on both sides, remove them and place them in a colander or strainer to drain off the excess oil.
- Step 9When all the balls are fried and drained, cut a deep slit through the middle of each, without cutting all the way through, and fill them with a little vatapá using a teaspoon. Top them with a little of the garnish we prepared and serve.