Honduran Refried Beans

Ingredients:

To Cook the Beans:
1kg dry small red beans (Goya Salvadorean or Central American beans)
2.5l water
½ yellow onion, coarsely chopped
½ green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 handful coriander, with stems removed
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the Refried Beans:
4 tbsps vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped rough cut, and toasted
1l (4 cups) red beans cooked, as above, and cooled
160ml bean cooking liquid, cooled
1 tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp fine sea salt (or to taste)

Method:

To prepare the Beans:
Sort through the dried beans to remove any visible debris like loose dirt, small rocks, and beans that look shrivelled, have holes in them, or are broken.

Now place the beans in a colander and give them a thorough rinse under cold, running, water to remove any stuck-on dirt or debris.

Combine all the ingredients in a pressure cooker (stove-top or instant pot). Set the cook time to 35 minutes on ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’, ‘High Pressure’.

Once the cooking time has completed, allow for a Natural Pressure Release, which can range from 30 to 50 minutes. If you are in a hurry, you can release any remaining pressure at 30 minutes if you wish. After the natural pressure release has finished and the pin has fallen, open the pot.

Remove the cooked vegetables from the pot (onion, green pepper, garlic, and coriander) using a slotted spoon and place in a blender with 250ml (1 cup) of the bean cooking liquid to blend. (Allow the cooking liquid to cool before blending.)

Remove the beans from the pot using a slotted spoon and store in a sealable food container, large freezer bag, or mason jars for use with other recipes. The beans freeze well and will last 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Once the liquid in the blender has cooled for at least 5 minutes, blend everything until smooth. Add the blended vegetables back to the bean cooking liquid in the pot and stir to combine.

Reserve the bean cooking liquid for bean soup and other recipes by storing in a sealable food container, freezer bags, or mason jars. The broth freezes well and will last 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.

For the Refried Beans:
First cook the beans using the recipe for pressure-cooking the beans, above. The recipe will yield enough beans and cooking liquid for this refried beans recipe.

In a large heavy frying pan over medium-high heat, heat 2 tbsp of the oil and when hot add the onion and cook until the smaller pieces are charred and most of the larger pieces are coloured a dark golden brown and lightly charred around the edges (about 12 to 14 minutes). This adds a wonderful and distinctive flavour to the beans. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the frying pan and allow it to heat up.

Whilst the oil is heating, combine the beans, bean cooking liquid, fried onions, cumin, and salt to a blender and process until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides to ensure that all the onion is blended.

Slowly and carefully add the blended beans to the hot frying pan, scraping them from the blender with a spatila. Allow the beans to sit in the pan, frying for a minute or two before stirring to allow the bottom to toast. Then, stir the beans thoroughly to mix the toasted bottom into the beans.

Allow them to cook, undisturbed, for another minute or two to toast and thicken again. Stir once more. Remove from the heat and mix then serve.