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Dithapi tsa dinawa (bean cakes): recipe illustration
Everyday meals

Dithapi tsa dinawa (bean cakes)

Golden cakes made from mashed dried beans, bound with flour and seasoned with onion. Crisp on the outside and soft inside, they are eaten hot as a side dish or a simple meal.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

Spices & seasoning

Optional extras

On the side

Instructions

  1. Soak the dried beans overnight in cold water, then drain and cook them for 1 to 1½ hours in unsalted water until they crush easily between your fingers.
  2. Roughly mash the cooked beans with a fork or pestle, keeping a few pieces for texture.
  3. Finely chop the onion, garlic and chilli, then fry them for 5 minutes in a spoonful of oil until soft and golden.
  4. Mix the mashed beans with the fried onions, the egg, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and paprika until you have a soft, workable dough.
  5. Shape into cakes about 2 cm thick with damp hands.
  6. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the cakes for 4 to 5 minutes on each side until crisp.
  7. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, sprinkled with coriander if you have some.

Variations and tips

Oven version. Place the cakes on an oiled tray and bake for 20 minutes at 200 °C, turning them halfway through, for a lighter version.

Using what's easy to find. Drained tinned red kidney beans can replace dried beans; in that case reduce the cooking to 10 minutes.

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Original Ecomely recipe.