Empanadas Colombianas
Colombia's snack-counter empanadas: deep-fried half-moons of yellow corn dough filled with a spiced beef-and-potato mash. Served with fresh ají.
Overview
Yellow-corn masarepa hydrates with water, salt and a pinch of paprika for colour. Beef mince cooks with onion, tomato cumin and oregano; cooked potato dices fold in for body. The dough divides; each ball flattens between two pieces of cling film into thin discs; filling goes in the centre; folded into a half-moon, sealed with damp fingers, fried.
Ingredients
Filling
- 400 g beef mince
- 300 g floury potato (peeled, diced, boiled tender, drained)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 onion (medium, very finely chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 tomato (grated)
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh coriander (chopped)
Dough
- 400 g yellow masarepa (Harina P.A.N. amarilla or similar)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 600 ml warm water (approximately - adjust as you go)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
To fry
- 1 litre vegetable oil
Ají sauce (to serve)
- 4 spring onions (finely chopped)
- 1 small bunch coriander (chopped)
- 1-2 red chillies (finely chopped)
- 1 lime (juice)
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Method
Stage 1 - Filling
- Heat oil; brown the mince hard 5-6 minutes; pour off excess fat.
- Add onion; cook 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, cumin, oregano, paprika; cook 30 seconds.
- Stir in tomato and puree; cook 4 minutes.
- Add cooked potato; mash gently with a fork into the meat - keep some chunky.
- Season with salt, pepper, coriander.
- Cool completely.
Stage 2 - Dough
- Whisk masarepa, turmerc, paprika and salt in a wide bowl.
- Drizzle in oil; add warm water gradually, mixing with hands, to a soft pliable dough (similar to playdough - holds shape, doesn't stick).
- Knead briefly. Cover with damp cloth; rest 10 minutes.
Stage 3 - Shape
- Divide dough into 18-20 walnut-sized balls.
- Lay a 20 cm square of cling film on the work surface; place one ball in the centre; cover with another 20 cm cling film.
- Press flat with a heavy book or tortilla press to a 10 cm thin disc (3 mm).
- Peel off the top cling film. Place a tablespoon of cooled filling in the centre.
- Using the bottom cling film, fold the disc into a half-moon over the filling.
- Press the edges firmly to seal through the cling.
- Peel off the cling film carefully.
- Trim the edge with a small knife or pastry wheel for a clean half-moon.
Stage 4 - Fry
- Heat oil to 175°C.
- Fry empanadas in batches of 4-5, 3-4 minutes per side, until deep gold and crisp.
- Drain on kitchen paper.
Stage 5 - Ají sauce
- Combine all ají ingredients in a small bowl.
- Let sit 5 minutes.
Stage 6 - Serve
- Eat empanadas hot with the ají on the side.
Notes
- Cling-film press: Masarepa dough is fragile and tears if rolled with a pin. The cling-film sandwich method is universal in Colombia.
- Turmeric colour: Gives the dough its sunny yellow-orange. Skipping it gives pale, sad empanadas.
- Ají is non-negotiable: The fresh, bright, slightly hot sauce is the empanada's other half. Don't skip.
Storage
- Best fresh. Refrigerate cooked 2 days; re-crisp at 200°C 6 minutes.
- Freeze raw (sealed, on a tray then bagged) up to 2 months. Fry from frozen, adding 2 minutes per side.
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