******** Warning – Rant runneth over! ***********

About 2 years back, when I first started exploring other cuisines than my own, I happened to visit this family where the wife was a self proclaimed chef with an awesome palate. The diligent husband (bless him) spent 50 minutes eating our ears off praising her unsurpassed skill, talent, exquisite palate and her boundless knowledge of all food items crossing boundaries across the world. We were treated to Mexican cuisine and I like any diligent learner kept asking her questions.

me: How did you prepare this side dish? Its yummy…
her: Oh Usually its more yummy, but I ran out of a crucial ingredient and had to make do with butter.

me: Oh what’s that?
her: Lard – its crucial and traditional to this dish

me:(confused) Oh, I thought K told me you guyz were vegetarians?
her: Oh of course we are – we are v particular. We dont even eat eggs!

me:(confused all the more) but but..isn’t lard something to do with pig or something?
her: (laughing and giving me motherly looks) Shows you just started cooking – you have a long way to go – But I agree in a new country such confusions are bound to happen.

me:(nodding enthusiastically) Yeah you are right. One more questions – why is this called refried beans?
her: Obviously because its fried twice. I first mash it using butter/lard in a skillet – almost frying right. And then when I mix it with onions and other seasoning, I fry it once more using some more lard/butter.

me:Ohhhh OK gotcha! Its sure a heavy dish! Guess have to hit the gym for 5 hours after this hahaha
her: Yeah – what to do good and tasty foods are always so high in calories!

Few weeks later, we actually stopped eating out!!!!! I started reading and getting to know of ingredients to the point of obsession and I came to acknowledge the possibility that people claiming to be experts could actually be outright wrong!!

For all the vegetarians out there – Next time you go out to your favorite Mexican restaurants, keep your mind open to the fact that beans can be made with lard (which is in fact pig’s fat) and ask if they have it without it.

For all the food enthusiasts, Refried beans does not mean Fried twice – its actually error in absolute translation from Mexican to English where the “Re” is used to mean “well” or “Very” and not repetitions (as in English) – But then if you are food enthusiasts, you probably know this already.

And with today’s post, I am going to show you that this dish can be all buttery and yummy without the addition of butter. I make it with 1/4 tsp of oil and it still ends up tasty. I feel like shouting from the rooftops – Good and Yummy Food NEED NOT be calorie rich!

****** Phew! OK…Rant now Over ********************

Soak the pinto beans overnight. Or if you are in a hurry, then its ok to skip the process – just use your pressure cooker.Its god send!

You can either cook until beans are soft or to simplify things, cook till mush too. It doesn’t really matter in this case if overcooked since you are ultimately going to mash it anyways while cooking. If you have cooking liquid – keep it, you can use it later if you feel that your beans are too thick in consistency. Or you can use water too.

Meanwhile, in a skillet add 1/4 tsp of corn oil (or any vegetable oil), add bay leaf, garlic, onions and some salt, Saute them until onions are soft and aromatic.

Add the tomatoes and cook for another 1-2 min until tomatoes get soft.

Add the cooked pinto beans, give it a stir to combine with the rest.

Using a potato masher or back of your spatula mash them well until it becomes almost a gooey mass

Add salt , if needed and mix well until well combined

Garnish with cilantro and serve hot either as a side to tortillas, chapati or Spanish rice. Or simply as an delicious and healthy dip for your corn/tortilla chips. Low fat, guilt free and nutritious. What more – its yummy and simple to make too

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