Frijoles Colombianos

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Beans cooked with green banana, potato, carrot and tomato, which is how Colombia makes them. The green banana dissolves into the pot and thickens it. An hour, and it serves four.

Prep Time10

Cook Time50

Total Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Colombian

Keyword: traditional beans

Servings:

Calories: 284kcal

Author: Angela Giraldo

Ingredients

½ pound red beans soaked overnight
2 medium green bananas guineo verde, chopped into small pieces
2 medium potatoes chopped into small pieces (optional)
2 sprigs of scallion or ½ medium onion finely chopped
1 medium tomato finely chopped
½ grated carrot
1 sprig of chopped cilantro
½ cube of Ricostilla or Maggi
Salt to taste

Instructions

Soak the beans overnight in water at room temperature. They take up water while they sit, and they cook far faster for it.
Put the beans in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover them well and cook over medium-high heat for 30 minutes.
Add the green banana, the potato if you are using it, the onion, tomato, carrot, cilantro, the bouillon cube and salt to taste.
Check the water level first: it will have dropped during the first half hour, and beans left short of liquid catch on the bottom. Top it up as needed and cook over medium heat for another half hour.
Let the pressure drop on its own before opening the pot.
Serve with rice, fried meat and slices of ripe plantain.

Notes

The green banana is what thickens the pot. It breaks down completely during the second half hour and leaves the liquid creamy without anything being blended or mashed, which is why Colombian beans have the texture they do.
Guineo verde is a green banana, not a plantain. It is smaller, softer and it dissolves; a green plantain holds its shape and will not do the same job.
You can stir in tomato sauce at the end, before serving, if you like.
In an ordinary pot rather than a pressure cooker it takes much longer, around an hour and a half, to soften the beans.

Nutrition