Acarajé

About This Recipe

Acarajé is the most iconic street food of Salvador, Bahia, and one of the great fried foods of the world — a fritter made from puréed black-eyed peas seasoned with dried shrimp and onion, fried in dendê (palm oil) until the exterior is deeply golden and crispy while the interior remains soft and almost creamy. Split open and filled with vatapá (a rich paste of bread, coconut milk, peanuts, dried shrimp and dendê) and caruru (okra stew with dried shrimp), it is a complete, extraordinary street food experience. Acarajé is not merely food — it is a sacred offering. It is made and sold by Baianas (women in traditional white lace dress) who are initiated into Candomblé, the Afro-Brazilian religion. In Candomblé, acarajé is the sacred food offered to the deity Exu. UNESCO recognized the cultural practice of Baianas selling acarajé as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2004. The recipe and method were brought by enslaved Yoruba people from West Africa (where a similar fritter called akara is still made). Making acarajé at home requires soaking and peeling black-eyed peas (labor-intensive but essential) and sourcing dendê oil, dried shrimp and vatapá ingredients. The result is worth every step: a dish with a complexity of flavors and textures — crispy, creamy, spicy, rich, salty — that captures five centuries of culinary fusion in a single bite.

Ingredients

Serves 10

• 2 cupsdried black-eyed peas(soaked overnight)
• ½white onion(roughly chopped)
• ¼ cupdried small shrimp(the tiny salt-dried variety)
• 1 tspsalt
• 3 cupsdendê (red palm oil)(for frying)
• 1 cupmedium shrimp(cooked, peeled, for filling)
• 2 cupsvatapá(see below)
• 1 cupcaruru (okra in dendê)(optional but traditional)
• for vatapá:— ½ cup dried bread + ½ cup coconut milk + ¼ cup ground peanuts + 2 tbsp dendê + dried shrimp + salt(blend to a thick paste)

Instructions

1. 1

   Peel the peas

   Drain soaked peas. Working in batches, rub vigorously between your hands to remove the skins. Place in a large bowl of water — skins float and can be poured off. Repeat until most skins are removed.

2. 2

   Blend the batter

   Blend peeled peas with onion, dried shrimp and salt, adding water tablespoon by tablespoon until a thick, smooth batter forms that holds its shape. Do not add too much water.

   The batter should be thick like hummus, not runny. Too much water = flat fritters that spread in the oil.

3. 3

   Beat the batter

   Transfer to a bowl and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes to incorporate air — this lightens the fritter.

4. 4

   Fry in dendê

   Heat dendê oil in a deep skillet to 350°F. Using two wet spoons, drop spoonfuls of batter into the oil. Fry 3–4 minutes per side until deeply golden. Drain on paper towels.

   The oil temperature is critical — too hot and the outside burns before the inside cooks.

5. 5

   Split and fill

   While still warm, split each acarajé partially open. Fill generously with vatapá, a shrimp and caruru. Serve immediately with extra hot sauce (molho de pimenta).

Variations

• •

  Abará: the same black-eyed pea batter, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed instead of fried — a sacred variation offered to a different Candomblé deity.

Storage

Eat immediately after frying — acarajé softens quickly. Uncooked batter refrigerates up to 2 days.

Frequently Asked Questions