Refried Beans

This very simple side dish is a firm favourite in the Tex-Mex cuisine. The first time I ate it was in a Mexican restaurant in Cambridge, back when I was about 10-12 years old; even way back then I loved the contrasting smoothness and "blandness" (for want of a better word) of the beans, compared with the more spicy shredded chicken chili it came with.  From that moment on I was hooked!

The dish is traditionally made using pinto beans, brown beans or even kidney beans.
Here in the Netherlands pinto beans are a little difficult to come by, and I find kidney beans do not have the right smoothness to them, due to their slightly harder skin compared to brown beans, so I use simple brown beans from a can.

Ingredients

1 450g can brown beans

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1 tb sunflower oil (to fry beans in)

water 

Method

Drain the beans and rinse under cold water to remove any excess liquid.

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Gently fry the onion in a little sunflower oil until soft. Then add the garlic and  continue frying for 2 minutes. Add the beans to the onion and garlic. With the back of a fork mash the beans as they fry until they become a soft mixture. Add the spices to the bean mixture, and a little water if necessary, if the beans are becoming too hard.

That's basically it. You can garnish with some fresh finally chopped coriander leaves, or a sprinkle of grated cheese. 

The beans are a perfect accompaniment to burritos, tacos, nachos or quesadillas. They can be served hot, or chilled and served cold, as a brilliant contrast to hot and spicy chili.

Enjoy!

DID YOU KNOW?

Although referred to as "refried beans" in English, they are only actually fried once. The "re" is a mistranslation, as in Spanish it refers to well fried rather than fried again!

DID YOU KNOW?

Traditionally refried beans are fried using either lard or bacon fat, but if you are serving to vegetarians this is not possible. Butter or sunflower oil can be used instead.