Carimañola (Colombian Cassava Fritter with Ground Beef)
A carimañola is boiled cassava mashed into a dough, shaped around seasoned ground beef and deep-fried into a golden torpedo. It comes from Colombia's Caribbean coast, where it is breakfast, and it is eaten with suero costeño. Crisp outside, soft and slightly sweet inside. Makes 12.
Servings: 12
Calories: 210kcal
Ingredients
- 1000 g cassava (yuca), peeled, cut into pieces, fibrous core removed about 2¼ lb; frozen cassava works and comes peeled and cored
- Salt for the cooking water
- 6 cups water
- Vegetable oil, enough for deep frying
For the filling
- ¼ bell pepper, finely chopped pimentón in Colombia means bell pepper, not paprika
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 250 g ground beef about ½ lb
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Salt, pepper and cumin, to taste
Instructions
- Put a large pot over high heat with the water, the cassava and salt. Cook for about 25 minutes, until the cassava is soft enough to fall apart under a fork.
- Drain it well and mash it in a bowl with a fork or a potato masher while it is still hot, which is when it mashes smoothest. Knead it for a while until the dough is smooth and holds together, then set it aside.
- Put a frying pan over medium heat with the tablespoon of oil, the crushed garlic, the onion and the bell pepper. Cook for two minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the ground beef and cook for 7 minutes, stirring, until it is cooked through and mixed with the vegetables. Take it off the heat and let it cool. Do not skip the cooling: hot filling softens the dough and the carimañolas split open in the oil.
- Take a piece of dough about the size of a large egg, roughly 80 g, and roll it into a ball. Push a finger into the centre to open out a hollow, like making a small canoe.
- Put in 1 tablespoon of the beef filling and close the dough gently around it, shaping it into an oval with a point at each end.
- Lower each carimañola into hot oil and fry for about 3 minutes a side, until deep golden.
- Lift them out and drain them on kitchen paper.
- Serve them hot, with tomato sauce, sweet chilli, or suero costeño.
Notes
The dough has to be smooth or the carimañolas crack as you shape them, and cassava mashes far better hot than cold. If it feels dry, wet your hands rather than adding water to the bowl. Filling must be cold before it goes in. Suero costeño is a soured, fermented cream from the Caribbean coast, thinner and saltier than sour cream: crème fraîche thinned with a little milk and salted is the closest easy substitute. Although carimañolas are traditionally fried, you can bake them for about 30 minutes at 190°C (375°F), which gives a drier, less crisp result.
Nutrition
Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 229mg | Potassium: 295mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 89IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg