peeling black eyed peas for acaraje (fritters)
Acaraje (similar to vada or vadai etc) are fritters from a batter of soaked ground black eyed peas.
The hard part is removing the peels. I gave up rubbing + rinsing at 75% peeled and the result was tasty just a bit gray.
Is there an easier way?
Soaking with baking soda? Parboil a minute?
AfricanBites.com offers these instructions but I don't know if it will make the job easier:
Soak them for about 15 minutes, pulse in the blender or food processor to break the peas (about 5- 10 times or about 10 to 15 seconds) you should do this in small quantities. In a large bowl soak the beans with warm water for about 2 hours or up to 24hours, cover with water until tender. Rub the peas between your hands to take the skin off. The skins will float to the top. Pour off the skins, into a colander; you may have to do this process several times. Most of the skin will come off the peas; Sort through the remaining peas to remove all the skin.
Ottolenghi calls for soaked chickpeas to be drained and cooked 5min in a hot pan while stirring before the simmer phase to get the skins tender. That step worth a try?
Best Answer
It seems that there are specific machines for de-hulling beans; that'd be the easiest way.
Other than that you should soak for 24h, the beans will expand and rip the hulls more easily, but I suppose you still have to peel them by hand - Most of the time I've seen people making acarajé they peel it one by one...
The traditional acarajé is made without the shell, some say the shell will make it bitter. Honestly, it's a ton of work to peel it one by one, I'd give it a try with the shell and compare.
Pictures about "peeling black eyed peas for acaraje (fritters)"
How do you take the skin off black-eyed peas?
So, here's how to prepare black-eyed peas\u2026 Refrigerate the pods for up to two weeks. You can use the black-eyed peas in their pods as a substitute for snap beans in any recipe. If you want to eat the individual peas, shell the black-eyed peas by pulling the pods open.Do you need to shell black-eyed peas?
You'll need at least six hours to rehydrate the black-eyed peas. Place them in a large bowl and add three cups of water for every one cup of peas. Cover, place in the refrigerator, and let the beans soak for six hours or overnight. Cook your beans low and slow, ideally in a slow cooker.How To Make Nigerian Akara (Black Eyed Peas Fritters, Acaraje or Koose) - Chef Lola's Kitchen
More answers regarding peeling black eyed peas for acaraje (fritters)
Answer 2
Not tried Ottolenghi's method yet but Africanbites.com went well:
After exactly 15min initial soak, pulsed handful at a time in blender 5X.
Many peels already falling off. 1hr soak later began the rubbing as the beans were rubbery not hard at all.
Scooped out skins using ladle with holes (skimmer) while agitating water rather than rinse/drain.
Left only 2 or 3% stubborn peels to do by hand.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Plato Terentev, David Bartus, SHVETS production, nappy