AKARA AND MOIMOI...

I'm not a fan of beans, i won't even touch baked beans with someone else's spoon, fork, whatever but i would gladly eat akara (with pap for breakfast on a lazy day or dinner for a quick knockout) or moimoi any time of day especially with there's some nice ijebu garri to "drink" along with it. They are very similar in preparation, the major difference is in cooking; while the latter if fried, moimoi is steamed.

White beans

Tatashe

Pepper

Onions

Salt and pepper

Cooked chopped liver (keep stock from the cooked liver)

Boiled Eggs

3 Raw eggs

Smoked fish (de-boned)

2 Tablespoons Vegetable oil

Ground dried crayfish

Leaves for wrapping moimoi or small plastic bowls

Picking beans is quite tiresome but something you absolutely have to do, in this case especially to get rid of stones. After separating beans from dirt, cover it with water to cover the beans and allow to sit for about 20 minutes to soften the skin. Wash beans the way you'd was a grimy pair of jeans you wore out on a muddy day, occasionally rubbing it between your palms. Rise and pour out skin and repeat till you have all the skin off. OR just go out and buy beans powder and re-hydrate it.

In a blender add tatashe and onions and a little water and blend, gradually add beans and blend till you have a smooth paste.

Add salt and pepper to taste and break in 2 eggs, eggs help to bind it all together. This is where you separate your beans paste into 2; half will be used for akara while the other for moimoi.

Add some oil for frying into a pan and allow to heat till its hot, if it isnt hot enough, your akara will soak up a lot of oil. Trust me, you don't wanna do this in a deep fryer, it will stick to the mesh of the sieve and just become a mess. Scoop akara into the pan with a pan and allow to fry for 2 minutes on both sides until brown, don't make your scoops too big so it cooks all the way through.

Serve with bread and pap.

For moioi, add your meat stock, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, fish, chopped liver, slices of cooked egg, 2 tablespoons of ground crayfish. taste for seasoning. If the paste is still too thick add a little more stock or water to loosen it up a bit so you moimoi doesn't come out hard.

Pour water into your steamer and start up or turn your pot into a steamer by putting a metal collander into your pot or put the cover of a smaller pot into your pot to cover with water just under the top of the smaller pot cover and cook covered.

Wash moimoi leaves and holding it by the stalk, roll it till you have a cone (kind of like the paper wrapper we used to buy groundnuts in some time ago. Bend the bottom stalk end backwards about a quarter way from the tip so it doesn't leak out of the bottom, scoop in your moimoi, bend the top together to get a sharp tip then bend it backwards in the same direction of the tip and lay it into your pot or steamer on the bent bits. Repeat till you've wrapped all your moi moi. OR

Scoop your moimoi into a plastic bowl 3/4 way full cos beans expands when it cooks so you don't want to fill it too much.

Remember to always check that there's still water in your pot or steamer. no steam, no cooking.
Cook for 45 minutes.

Allow to cool then unwrap and serve.

Enjoy! Food glorious food.