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Garnaches
Crisp tortillas with beans and cheese
Garnaches: Belize City's crisp tortillas with beans, cheese and onion pickle
Belize City snack shops and Saturday-morning stalls sell garnaches by the half dozen, wrapped in paper: small corn tortillas fried until they crackle, spread with refried beans, showered with grated cheese and topped with a sharp pickle of onion and hot pepper. They are crunchy, salty and tangy, and gone in three bites. Belizeans like a round red Edam-style cheese, which is usually made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese if needed. The common mistake is frying in oil that is not hot enough, which gives greasy, bendy tortillas. Chef's tip: make the onion pickle a day ahead; it gets pinker and milder overnight.
- Total time
- 35 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the onion pickle
- 1 red onionvery thinly sliced
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 habanero pepper (optional)thinly sliced (optional)
- ½ tsp salt
For the beans
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ onionfinely chopped
- 1 clove garliccrushed
- 14 oz cooked red kidney beans1 tin, drained, with 4 tbsp liquid kept
For the garnaches
- 12 small corn tortillas10 cm across
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable oilfor frying
- 5 ½ oz Edam-style cheesefinely grated; vegetarian if needed
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Mix 1 red onion, ½ cup white vinegar, 1 habanero pepper and ½ tsp salt in a jar. Leave for at least 15 minutes, until the onion turns pink and softens.
15 minStep 2: Warm 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and soften ½ onion and 1 clove garlic for 4 minutes. Add 14 oz cooked red kidney beans with their liquid and mash with a potato masher while they bubble for 5 minutes, until thick and spreadable.
9 minStep 3: Heat 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil in a frying pan to 350°F, or until a corner of tortilla sizzles hard at once. Fry 12 small corn tortillas one or two at a time for about 1 minute a side, until golden and stiff. Drain on kitchen paper; they crisp more as they cool.
10 minStep 4: Spread each tortilla with a thin layer of the warm beans, scatter with 5 ½ oz Edam-style cheese and top with a little drained pickle. Serve straight away.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 40 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does garnaches take?
- About 35 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of red onion?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
- What can I use instead of white vinegar?
- Cider vinegar or rice vinegar, same amount.
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