Acarajé Do Tom

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1. 1Step 1: Wash the beans and then soak them in plenty of water overnight.
2. 2Step 2: Remove the skin and the black 'eye' from every single bean. Crush the beans between your fingers, rub large handfuls of them together between your palms, trying to break the beans apart so that the skins come away. Every so often give the water and beans a good swirl and then quickly pour off the water. A whole load of the skins and eyes will be carried away with the water.
3. 3Step 3: Repeat the previous step until all the skins and black specks are gone and you're left with nothing but the ivory bean centres. This takes at least an hour.
4. 4Step 4: When your beans are pure white put them in a food processor/blender with the salt, chopped onion and splash of water. Blend until everything is well combined and the mixture has the consistency of hummus (you may need to add more water for it to blend properly).
5. 5Step 5: The mixture can now be split into convenient portions, bagged up, labelled and frozen.
6. 6Step 6: For the deep-fry method: Put your desired oil(s) in a pan suitable for deep frying and heat it to 170°C (340°F).
7. 7Step 7: Take portions of the bean mixture and drop them into the hot oil. You can make quenelles or go for something more rustic. I find that the acarajés that are sold on the street are a bit on the big side so I just use a tablespoon.
8. 8Step 8: Don't crowd them – I find 2 or 3 at once is the maximum when using a small pan. They float on the surface with the underside getting cooked so after a minute or two give them a nudge to spin them over. When they're a rich golden colour all over take them out of the oil with a slotted spoon and drain them on absorbent paper.
9. 9Step 9: For the shallow-fry method: Put a good layer of oil in pan and heat on medium-high (I still like to use a blend of dendê and sunflower to give it some flavour).
10. 10Step 10: Put spoonfuls of the bean mixture into the pan and gently flatten and shape them while they're still malleable.
11. 11Step 11: Flip the fritters over after a few minutes and give them a light sprinkle of salt. Drain them on absorbent paper once they're golden on both sides.
12. 12Step 12: Rinse the shrimps, then soak in hot water for 20 minutes. Pour off the water and reserve the shrimps.
13. 13Step 13: If the shrimps are still in their shells then remove the heads, tails and any thick, spiky bits. You can put all these bits in a bowl with a little boiling water; mash them with the back of a fork or a potato masher then strain, keeping the shrimpy water with the shrimps and discarding the shells.
14. 14Step 14: Blitz the peanuts, cashews, 3/4 of the shrimps and all the shrimpy water in a blender until they become a homogeneous mass, something like a dry peanut butter. If it's not blending very well then add a good glug of the coconut milk. Put this mixture into a bowl.
15. 15Step 15: In another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with half the remaining coconut milk.
16. 16Step 16: Blitz the parsley, spring onions, coriander, tomatoes and onion in a blender.
17. 17Step 17: Put all the remaining coconut milk in a saucepan and mix in the breadcrumb mixture, the blended herb-tomato mixture and the shrimpy-nut mixture. Use an immersion blender if necessary to get rid of any lumps (or put the whole lot in the blender for a quick blast, then return it to the pan).
18. 18Step 18: Gently heat the mixture in the saucepan, stirring all the time to stop it sticking. Add the palm oil, the rest of the shrimps and the grated ginger.
19. 19Step 19: Check seasoning and add salt if necessary. Keep heating and stirring until it thickens to a firm, creamy consistency. If necessary, add more coconut milk to loosen it up or more breadcrumbs to thicken it.
20. 20Step 20: Cut each acarajé open and add a generous serving of vatapá, a good dollop of hot sauce, some kind of fresh salsa (I like a mix of finely chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onion, fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves with a squeeze of lime). You should also add a couple of rehydrated dried shrimps.