Gambian · snack

Accara with Tapalapa and Pepper Sauce

Accara with Tapalapa and Pepper Sauce reads salinity 4.5, heat 4.2 and allium 3.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Gambian snack, about 3 hr 4 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 4.8 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 3.2 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 2.4 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.0 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 3.8 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 4.5 · Heat 4.2 · Allium 3.9 · Nutty 3.1 · Umami 2.9 · Richness 2.6 · Fruity 2.5 · Sourness 2.2 · Sweetness 2.2 · Earthy 1.8 · Bitterness 1.2 · Herbaceous 1.1 · Floral 1.0 · Citrus 0.5

What's in it (12)

• black-eyed peas — 400 g
• onion — 100 g
• scotch bonnet chillies — 200 g
• salt — 7 g
• cold water — 90 g
• peanut oil — 920 g
• tomatoes — 300 g
• onion — 100 g
• tomato paste — 15 g
• peanut oil — 27 g
• salt — 3 g
• tapalapa rolls — 800 g

Time & effort: about 3 hr 4 min (1 hr 4 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 72.8 kcal, 4.1 g protein, 0.5 g fat, 12.9 g carbs

Dietary: Vegan — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (10 steps)

1. Soak the peas in plenty of cold water for 2 hours.
2. Rub handfuls of the soaked peas hard between your palms to slip off the skins, then float the skins away under running water. Repeat until the peas are clean and ivory; this takes a good 30 minutes and it is what makes accara pale and light rather than grey and dense.
3. Blend the skinned peas with the chopped onion, the scotch bonnets and the salt, adding the cold water a spoonful at a time and only as much as the blades need, about 3 minutes. The batter should be thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon.
4. Beat the batter hard with a wooden spoon or a whisk for 5 minutes, until it lightens in colour and feels aerated. A teaspoon of it dropped into a glass of water should float; if it sinks, keep beating.
5. For the sauce, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan and cook the sliced onion 6 minutes until soft.
6. Add the tomato paste and fry 3 minutes until it darkens.
7. Add the chopped tomatoes and the 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook 12 minutes, until thick and jammy.
8. Heat the frying oil to 175 C and drop in heaped tablespoons of batter, six at a time, frying 4 to 5 minutes and turning once, until deep gold and hollow-sounding.
9. Split the tapalapa, pile in the hot accara, spoon over the sauce and eat immediately.
10. Substitutions: small baguettes can stand in for the tapalapa rolls.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Papadzules — Mexican · Yucatán
• Koki (Steamed Black-Eyed Pea and Palm Oil Cake) — Cameroonian
• Nsima with Ndiwo za Nkhaka — Malawian
• Ifisashi — Zambian
• Quesadillas con Flor de Calabaza — Mexican

Keep reading: what salinity, heat, allium mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.