Black Eyed Bean Fritters (Falafel Gone Rogue)
If you checked out my Instagram post for these you would see one of my made up fairytales about they came to life. I have only ever seen Zanzibari’s and a few East African countries make them. The best way to understand their taste is to say they are a hybrid of a Falafel and Indian Onion Bhaji/Pakora. We call them ‘Bhajiya Za Kundé’ - in translation, a Black Eyed Bean Fritter.
Packed with Black Eyed Beans, lots of Coriander and Onions then deep fried to form a crunchy exterior. These truly are the optimum of a home comfort snack!
Typically we serve these with a Coconut & Coriander Chutney that is super spicy and filled with loads of lemon.
When I first started making these trying not to add too much water in the blender was really hard. You HAVE to make sure you watch your consistency otherwise they will be very soft after frying and less crunchy. But don’t panic, they still taste great and you will get there!
First word of advice DO NOT USE TINNED BEANS! It’s so important that you use the dry bean otherwise you’ll just have disintegrated fritters, and nobody wants that! And I know it’s time consuming to soak the beans overnight but the best part is, once you have made up the whole mixture, you can store it in the freezer for up to a month!
Tip: When making these, if you feel the batter is too wet, keep some chickpea flour close by to add to the mixture to help soak up the excess water. But do not put too much! I made this mistake the first time and they came out so hard you could have knocked someone out!
And if you didn’t figure it out already… these are VEGAN FRIENDLY!
Ingredients:
1 Cup of Dry Black Eyed Beans (Soaked overnight)
Half a Handful of Coriander Leaves
1 Lemon
Salt (to taste)
1 Large Fresh White Onion (Chopped Roughly)
2 Green Chillies (Optional)
3 TBSP Chickpea (Only if needed)
1 Litre Vegetable Oil (Deep Frying)
Method:
Once you have soaked your beans over night, strain the water out of them and with a paper towel, blot out some of the excess water.
Place the beans in a blender, along with all the other ingredients, except the chickpea flour. I had to separate mine into 2 batches for the blender to break everything down.
Add in about 2 TBSP of water to the mixture, to help with smoothing it out.
Blitz the ingredients until the mixture is smooth. You’ll have a few lumps from where the beans haven’t completely broken down and that’s fine!
If the mixture isn’t smooth enough you can add a bit more water, but remember we don’t want this mixture wet. It needs to hold it’s shape.
When you are happy with the consistency. Using your hand or an ice cream scoop, roll out roughly 30 equal balls.
Heat your oil in a deep frying pan. You want it to be super hot, so that when you drop the balls in, they instantly rise to the top and begin to brown.
Fry all the ball, turning frequently until they are golden brown. If you would like an extra crunch, leave a bit longer till they are dark brown.
Drain off the excess oil by placing them onto some paper towels once you take them out of the oil.
Enjoy warm or cold as a side dish for a main meal or as a comforting midday snack!
Ingredients (Chutney):
300g Desiccated Coconut
150ml Boiling Water
Handful of Coriander
2 Fresh Lemons
Salt
2 Fresh Green Chillies
Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth! Literally as simple as that.
Oh and then put it in a serving dish and get dunking with your Fritters!