Acarajé with vatapá

  November 01, 2021   Read time 2 min
Acarajé with vatapá
This acarajé with vatapá recipe makes the perfect snack at a Brazil-themed party. The crispy bean and onion cakes (acarajé) are stuffed with a flavourful vatapá - a popular Brazillian mix of shrimp, crab, nuts and coconut milk.

Ingredients:

  • 450g of black-eyed beans
  • 450g of white onion, roughly chopped
  • salt
  • 360g of dende oil
  • 360g of vegetable oil
  • 300g of dried shrimp
  • 330g of bread, day-old, roughly chopped
  • 85g of cashew nuts, unsalted
  • 85g of peanuts, unsalted
  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • 840g of coconut milk, unsweetened
  • 1 tomato, large, roughly chopped
  • 1 handful of coriander, roughly chopped
  • 250g of crab meat, cooked
  • 20g of dende oil
  • salt
  • black pepper, freshly ground

How to Cook:

- First, make the acarajé. Add the beans to a large bowl, cover with water and leave to soak overnight (or for 24 hours)

- While the beans are soaking, gently rub them between your hands – the outer skins should come away and float to the surface. Remove the skins and discard, then drain the water

- Cover the beans with water again – more skins should float up to the surface. Discard and leave the beans to finish soaking

- After soaking, drain the beans and add to a food processor with the raw onions (do this in batches if necessary)

- Scrape the mixture into a large mixing bowl and season with salt. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon for a few minutes, until light and fluffy

- Heat the dende oil and the vegetable oil in a large, deep pan. Form balls of the batter with a wooden spoon and carefully drop into the hot oil in small batches, cooking for approximately 6 minutes (or 3–4 minutes on each side). They are cooked when they turn a nice bright orange colour and are crisp on the outside

- Once they are cooked, drain and set aside on some kitchen towel

- While the cakes are cooling slightly, make the vatapa filling. Add the shrimp to a food processor, blitz to a pulp then remove and set aside. Add the bread to the food processor, blitz until smooth then add the cashews and peanuts. Blitz for a further 2 minutes, then remove and set aside

- Add the dende oil to a large pan and place over a medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and chillies and sweat for 2–3 minutes until tender but not coloured

- Add the pulped shrimp, coconut milk, tomato and breadcrumb mixture. Cook for a further 5 minutes

- Add salt and pepper to season, then add the crab meat at the last minute to warm through. Stir through the coriander and set aside

- Carefully cut a slit across the longest side of the acaraje and spoon some of the vatapa into each one. Serve immediately.


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