Guatemalan recipe
How to make Rellenitos de plátano
The whole country
Little egg-shaped balls of sweet mashed plantain filled with a mixture of black beans, chocolate and cinnamon, fried until golden and dusted with sugar. The bean filling surprises many visitors, but it tastes like a chocolate pudding.
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe plantains, with black skins
- 1 cinnamon stick and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 200 g smooth refried black beans
- 40 g dark chocolate, chopped
- 2 tablespoons sugar, plus sugar or honey to serve
- Oil for frying
Method
- Cut the plantains into pieces with the skin on and boil them with the cinnamon stick for about 10 minutes, until soft. Peel and mash them into a smooth paste, then let it cool.
- Warm the beans with the chocolate, ground cinnamon and sugar, stirring until the chocolate melts and the filling is thick. Let it cool.
- With wet hands, flatten a small ball of plantain paste into a cup shape, add a teaspoon of filling and close the paste around it to make an egg shape.
- Fry the rellenitos in hot oil, a few at a time, for 2 to 3 minutes, turning them until golden on all sides. Drain on paper.
- Serve warm, dusted with sugar or drizzled with honey.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
Rellenito comes from rellenar, to stuff, so the name means 'little stuffed plantain things'.
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