Akara
/əˈkɑːrə/noun
A West African fritter made from ground beans, especially black-eyed peas, and commonly seasoned and fried.
Did you know?Akara is closely related to Brazil’s acarajé, a famous Afro-Brazilian bean fritter whose name derives from Yoruba àkàrà.
Etymological Timeline
Early Yoruba
Yoruba
àkàrà
“A fritter or fried bean cake; the source of the modern English loanword.”
Precolonial West Africa
Yoruba
àkàrà
“A prepared food made from a seasoned bean paste and fried in oil.”
19th Century
Portuguese
acarajé
“An Afro-Brazilian form derived from Yoruba àkàrà, referring to a fried black-eyed-pea fritter.”
20th Century
English
akara
“A West African bean fritter adopted into English descriptions of regional cuisine.”
Modern English
English
akara
“A fried bean cake or fritter, especially associated with Nigerian and wider West African cooking.”