DRUNKEN REFRIED-BEANS

For a long time I wondered what was meant by refried beans.
Did you have to fry them and re-fry them, if yes, then how did you do it?
I read a lot of recipes in books and on the internet and just came to the conclusion that all those recipes were not good since they didn't refry the beans. So I never really tried them out. It came as a boon when my husband announced that he was going to be visiting Mexico on an official trip.
His boss at home gave him just one, single most important job and that was to find out how to refry the beans.

He did his job well.

Re is a prefix used in Mexico(Mexican Spanish) which means well or very.
Refried actually means very well fried and not fried repeatedly as is commonly misunderstood.I like to use red kidney beans for this preparation as I enjoy the taste a lot more, though sometimes I mix white kidney beans and cannellini beans just for a change. Pinto beans are the other choice which when boiled unfortunately lose the beautiful bespeckled look.
I like mine slightly, ever so slightly drunken.

I have talked about the nutritive values of kidney beans in my previous post Steamed kidney bean and rice cakes.
You can read about the cooking method in my post Kidney beans with cottage cheese.
Learn more about the pressure cooker by reading my page Cooking by use of pressure cooker.

drunken refried-beans

DRUNKEN REFRIED BEANS

Ingredients:

.Kidney beans..................................1 cup, mashed
.Olive oil.........................................1 Tbsp.
.Butter..............................................1 Tbsp.
.Garlic.............................................1tsp.
.Red onion.......................................3/4th cup, finely chopped
.Red chili(serrano or bird's eye).....1 tsp. finely chopped
.Tomato ketchup..............................1 Tbsp.
.Tomato puree..................................2 Tbsp.
.Chili sauce......................................1 Tbsp.
.Water..............................................2 Tbsp.
.Vermouth cooking wine..................1 Tbsp.
.Tabasco sauce.................................4 to5 drops
.Salt..................................................to taste

Method:
.Soak and cook the kidney beans as shown in my earlier post Kidney beans with cottage cheese or use a
 can/tin of pre-cooked kidney beans.
.Mash roughly the beans and set aside.
.In a bowl mix together tomato ketchup, chili sauce, tomato puree and water. Set aside
.Heat olive oil and butter in a flat pan.
.Add onion and garlic and a pinch of salt and saute till onions are soft and start to change colour.
.Add the mashed kidney beans, red chili and saute for 2 to 3 minutes mixing the onions well with the
 beans.
.Leave untouched, unstirred for 2 minutes or until a crust begins to form at the bottom of the beans.
.Add 1 Tbsp. of the tomato puree mixture and mix well.
.Again leave untouched, unstirred for 2 minutes or until a crust begins to form at the bottom of the
 beans.
.Repeat this till all the tomato puree mixture has been used.
.Let it crust again and then in the final liquid addition add the vermouth.
.Mix well and cook again till the crust just begins to form. Mix well and set aside.

Note:
.For this recipe 1 can of kidney beans (432g/15.25oz.) can give 1 cup of the refried beans. If using the
 canned beans discard the liquid and rinse the beans.
.1 cup raw kidney beans give 2 cups cooked beans. Use half cup raw kidney beans for this recipe.
.If boiling it in the pressure cooker or a saucepan do not discard the cooking liquid. You can
 replace the water in the recipe by the liquid.
.Mash lightly with back of a spoon so as to just crush the beans. Leaving the skin on adds texture to the
 refried beans. It keeps the nutrients in and adds to the fiber content.
.I like a slightly dry filling for my burritos. If you need it slightly moist add a little extra water in the
 final addition. This recipe makes a filling for 6 burritos.
.A moister version can be used as a dip for nachos.