This recipe is for me the best preparation of the special red beans of Colombia, with “Frijol verde” or “Cargamanto” variety. I’m not a professional chef, I’m only sharing my recipe and ingredients with their locations in Berlin - Germany. Of course it’s possible to change this according to your preferences, and maybe it would be easier and better if you are in South America.
The title is a bit confusing, but I don’t know why in Colombia, the red beans are called “Frijol verde” or green beans, maybe because sometimes it is sold with their green plant containers or “vainas”.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of red beans cargamanto or similar beans
- 1kg of pork, bacon or any meat or replacement of it for slow cook
- 1 whole white onion and some leek (puerro)
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 or more garlic cloves
- 1/4 Panela (optional)
- 1 African or Latin American ripe banana (optional)
- 1 Chili pepper spice (optional)
Berlin ingredients
Possible Berlin places:
- “Cargamanto” red beans in Al Kaiser Supermarket
- “Platano maduro” (Bananas) in Asia Lebensmittel
- “Panela” in Chili & Paprika shop
- Chili mix pepper spice in REWE
- All special ingredients maybe in Latino point Supermarket
Preparation
Well, for me the best beans are with pork meat and bacon. For that, I should do the following:
First put 1kg of pork in a pressure cooker with a whole onion and whole tomatoes and red beans (two cups), salt and pepper and some garlic cloves (a bit) for 1h.
After that, extract the onion and tomatoes cut these into very small pieces along with more leek (puerro) and tomato maybe more garlic, pepper and salt and re-introduce to the pot and cook for 30 minutes without pressure, with the lid open over medium heat. If you want also add chili pepper spice.
If you want it a bit sweet, you could add in the last step a small cube of “panela” (3x3x3 cm). I love this.
Another option to replace the “panela” is the African banana, that is different to the normal banana. That is a good replacement for the Latin American banana. Just add one ripe banana in cubes during the last step. Not too much because it will be very sweet if the banana is black, but if it’s more yellow, it won’t be too sweet and the flavor will be different.
Of course, if you are vegan, you can simply replace the meat with something else. This alternative is also very good and can be served with other side dishes.
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