How to make Moi Moi and Akara (A 2-in-1 Practical Cooking Guide)

We have written a spectacular 2-in- 1 guide on how to make Moi Moi and how to make Akara.

These two foods are one of the best Nigerian foods, they are eaten in almost every part of the country and are very popular too.

We decided to combine both guides in one, due to reasons that moi moi and akara have similar preparation processes, the major difference is just that you deep fry akara while you steam moi moi.

I must tell you that Moi Moi and Akara are the favorite foods of many Nigerians. Either of them can serve as breakfast or dinner.

But you may be missing a sweet life if you have not taken Moi Moi with a chilled drink on a hot afternoon.

Or some balls of Akara with soft bread, while you drop it down with a good drink in a fresh morning; it will give you a soothing feeling that you will hardly forget. I am writing from experience anyway.

Unfortunately, not many people know how to prepare such quality of Moi Moi or Akara that can take you to the heavens on earth.

In this article, you will learn the best methods to prepare quality Moi Moi and Akara. Did you know you can make Moi Moi from maize and Akara from yam? It is good you are here because you will learn all of them here.

HOW TO MAKE MOI MOI

The most popular type of moi moi in Nigeria is made from beans. A rarer recipe is made from sweet corn. We shall take them individually and I advise you bookmark this page so that you can always come back to it in case you miss anything while you want to prepare either.

How to Make Moi Moi from Beans

To make moi moi from beans (black-eyed peas), you have to make the beans into a paste (slurry). This implies that you will soak the beans, to soften it and to make the seed-coat come out more easily.

The soft beans will be blended alongside some other ingredients which are below listed. This recipe described here will require you to have a fish. It is not compulsory you use fish, but it will taste better with fish.

Ingredients for Making Moi Moi from Beans

4 cups of beans
Some fresh pepper (Rodo, Tatashe)
A large boiled fish (Mackerel)
A sachet of tomato paste
¼ liter of vegetable oil
Onions
A cup of crayfish
Some boiled eggs (if you prefer eggs over fish)
Food wrappings say aluminum foil or medium size plastic cups
Uma leaves

When you have all these ingredients in place, you can now move ahead with the method below to prepare your superb moi moi from beans.

Methods of Making Moi Moi from Beans

Soak the beans for some minutes and wash properly to remove the seed-coat
To soften the beans, soak the washed beans in water for like three hours.
Wash the beans again and blend it together with fresh pepper, tomatoes, crayfish, onions and ginger (if you so wish to add ginger). Blend with some water.
Pour the blended mixture into a big bowl and add the already shredded fish (mackerel). Add some cubes of seasoning and salt, to taste. Add the vegetable oil and mist properly. You add little water to control the thickness.
You can now pour the beans-ingredients slurry into the plastic cups or into the food wrappings. You can also add the eggs into the cup or wrappings as you dispense the slurry into them. Set them aside afterwards, not for too long anyway.
Wash the uma leaves with water and salt to remove possible dirt and germs.
Lag the large pot with which you will cook the moi moi with the washed Uma leaves. This is done to prevent the moi moi from burning at the base of the pot.
Pour small amount of water into the pot, just enough cover the stalks of the leaves.
Now gently arrange the moi moi which are the cups or wrappings in the pot. Ensure that none is leaking out.
Now cook for 45 minutes. At intervals of maybe 10 minutes, add some water into the pot to prevent burning.

After you have properly cooked the moi moi, you can serve it with chilled drink or jellof rice and so on. Note that the moi moi does not get stiff immediately. The cooler it gets, the stiffer it becomes.

How to Make Moi Moi from Corn/Maize

Yes, you can make a special type of moi moi from maize. It tastes differently from the moi moi from beans, but its taste is what you may not let go.

To procedure for making moi moi is the same with the one described above. The difference is that you are making the slurry from maize grains. There is also higher time of preparation here than the former.

Soak the maize grains for some hours to soften it
Blend it with fresh pepper, crayfish, onions, dry fish and some water.
Pour the slurry in a big bowl and add some palm oil, some cubes of seasoning and salt, to taste.
Pour gently into the plastic cups and cook in a lagged pot, to avoid burning.
Cook for more than 45 minutes, while at intervals, you add some water.

HOW TO MAKE AKARA

Akara which may be called fried bean cake is a popular food in Nigeria and some other parts of West Africa.

Surprisingly, some parts in Nigeria like the Abakaliki and some parts in Enugu State make what they also call akara from yam. Its method of preparation is similar to that from beans.

How to Make Akara with Beans flour

The akara made from beans is the most popular recipe in Nigeria. This akara is simply made by frying in hot oil beans slurry. It appears simple but there are things you must put in place so that the akara will come out a quality one.

Ingredients for Making Akara from Beans

You need the following ingredients to make good akara:

A cup of beans (Black-eyed beans or brown beans)
Fresh pepper (Chili)
A litre of vegetable oil
Well sliced onions
Salt

Methods of making Akara from Beans

The first thing to do is to soak the beans in water to allow the easy removal of the seed coat.
Wash and remove the seed coat after soaking and soak it again for some hours. Do not allow it over night. The beans will get sour.
Blend the beans adding just very little amount of water. The blending should be done together with the pepper.
Pour the beans slurry in a mortar and mix properly with a pestle.
Add the sliced onions and turn gently
Put your fry pan on fire and add some amount of vegetable oil. It should be enough to cover the akara, but not too much as to soak the akara. Boil the oil until it is hot; but not very hot. Very hot oil will cause the beans slurry to spatter and that will not produce a good akara.
Gently introduce the beans/ingredients mixture into the hot oil with a cooking spoon. You can put as much as the pan can contain.
Flip the frying akara balls periodically to ensure that all the parts get done at the same time and to avoid burning.
When the akara turns brown, then you can gently bring them out of the hot oil into a basket. You akara is ready!

Now you can enjoy your akara with bread or custard or even pap. Akara is on the breakfast menu of many Nigerian families.

How to Make Akara from Yam (Ojojo)

Yes, one can make a delicious akara from yam. Although only Water Yam is used for this purpose, it comes out tasty. You may want to try it.

Ingredients for Making Akara from Water Yam

To make a delicious akara from water yam, you need the following ingredients:

A tuber of water yam
1/4 litres of palm oil
Onion bulbs
Crayfish
Ground pepper
Salt

Methods of Preparing Akara from Water Yam

The first step is to peel the water yam.
Wash the yam and cut it into small pieces so that they can be easily blended.
Blend the yam, adding no additional water.
Into the yam slurry, put your ground crayfish, pepper, sliced onion and salt, to taste.
Mix properly to get a uniform mixture.
Into your fry pan, put the palm oil and allow to heat for some minutes
Introduce the yam/ingredients mixture gently with a cooking spoon. Place them around the pan until the available spaces are occupied.
Flip the frying akara periodically to ensure uniform frying.
When the entire akara becomes brown-yellow, you can bring them out into a basket, ready to be served.

This is a rare recipe anyway, but what is life without new things. Although it is not new, but it may be new to you.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF MOI MOI AND AKARA

You may be wondering if any of these junks can contribute positively to your health. Well, Noone can guarantee that anything is 100% safe. Nevertheless, Moi Moi and Akara has so many benefits they add to your health.

They are prepared with different ingredients with varying health benefits: this fish, eggs, the beans itself are all protein-rich.
Usually, vegetables accompany the Moi Moi from maize. So these ingredients adds important vitamins to our diets and ensure we stay healthy.

In conclusion, these are the methods/ways you can prepare different kinds of Moi Moi and akara in Nigeria. If this post was helpful, do leave a comment below. If you also have a contribution to make, we will love to hear from you too. Thank you for coming by.