Akara aka Banana Fritters – Sierra Leone Flavours
It is time to introduce you to one of my favourite ever Sierra Leonean recipes for breakfast.
Akara to me or banana fritters to you. They are like nutmegy banana pancake balls – but so much better. Especially when served with sweet oniony Sierra Leone gravy and ice-cold ginger beer.
This akara recipe brings back fond memories of the foodie arguments I have my with mum. She could never understand why all I wanted for breakfast, when I went back home, was things like akara and fried plantains. She wanted to serve up special chicken and chips etc. You know the foods special to Sierra Leoneans living in Sierra Leone. Whilst all I wanted was the food special to Sierra Leoneans living abroad. Aka their everyday salone food. I know I will have the exact same conversation next time I visit.
As long as you have the overripe bananas and rice flour ready you can whip up your akara pretty easily. The test is whether you can avoid eating them straight out of the pot. My youngest and I have zero self control when it comes to these. How did I even manage to photograph this batch?
So here is my super easy akara recipe and please do let me know what variations you have in your banana fritters recipes.
Also if you do like fritters then why not try these Corn Fritters from Little Sunny Kitchen. They look sooooooo lush.
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Akara aka Banana Fritters - Sierra Leone Flavours
Ingredients
- 4 medium overripe bananas
- 160 g (5.6oz) rice flour
- 1 heaped tsp baking powder
- 1/2-1 tsp grated nutmeg
- A pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2-4 tbsp water
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Peel the bananas, add them to a blender and whizz until pureed.
- Transfer the pureed banana to a bowl and mix in all the ingredients plus 2 tbsp of water.
- The batter should have a drop-like consistency but if not then mix in the other 2 tbsp of water.
- Heat the oil over medium a medium flame and drop tablespoons full of the batter into the oil.
- Cook the akara for 1min then turn round and cook on the other side for another min until golden brown.
- Remove the akara and drain them on paper kitchen towels.
- Continue until all the batter is done.
- Serve with some gravy or sweet chilli sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Sierra Leone flavours – is the spot on my blog where I share both traditional Sierra Leonean recipes and West African fusion recipes.