Growing up in the South in Texas and Louisiana, one of the New Year’s customs I became familiar with is having black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day for good luck in the coming year. There are many dishes that one can add black-eyed peas to from stews to soups, tacos and burritos to salads and appetizers. For my New Years Day black-eyed pea dish I have chosen to make Black Eyed Pea Fritters. I use frozen black-eyed peas as I find them to taste fresher but you can use canned black-eyed peas or dried ones as well. Here is the recipe.
New Year’s Day Black Eyed Pea Fritters:
makes 30-40 small fritters
Ingredients:
- 4 cups or 1 lb black-eyed peas cooked until tender
- 4 small potatoes boiled until tender
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- Chopped cilantro – 4 tbsp
- 2 slices of any white bread cut into small pieces
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- Salt
- Oil
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl mash the cooked black-eyed peas and potatoes together.
- Add salt, paprika, onions, bread and cilantro and mix into the black eyed peas.
- Form into small patties and place on a plate.
- In a frying pan, heat oil and shallow fry the patties until golden brown on both sides.
- They are ready to be eaten as is or with any dip or chutney or hot sauce of your choice.
Happy New Year!