Porotos Granados
Porotos granados is the Chilean word for freshly harvested beans, this dish is traditionally served in summer because it was when the corn (choclo from quechua choccllo) and summer pumpkins (zapallo from quechua sapallu) are harvested.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 onions, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 cups of broth, chicken, vegetable or beef
- 500gr dried white beans (the original recipe uses pochas, but white beans do fine).
- 750g pumpkin, cut bite sized
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 250g of canned corn kernels
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons powdered cumin
- A handful of fresh basil
- Salt, pepper to taste
Preparation
Leave the beans in water over night to soften them, the next morning throw out the water (use that water to water your plants, bean water is a great fertilizer) and rinse them, then leave them in a dark place. Do not add more water.
When ready to cook, dice the onions and the garlic and add the olive oil to the pot. First add the onions and when they start to turn transparent add the garlic.
Before the garlic burns add the broth and the beans to the pot. If you are lucky some of the will have started to germinate already, this is when seeds are most nutritious.
Cut the pumpkin and carrots to chunks and add them to the pot.
Add salt and taste the broth to make sure you got it right.
When it starts to boil, turn the fire to low, cover the pot and wait 30-40 minutes until the beans are ready.
After the wait add more water to compensate for evaporation and the oregano, the cumin and pepper, and wait another 5 minutes.
Next, turn off the fire completely and add the basil leaves, whole or chopped.
Serve hot, there should be enough for 4 stew lovers. This is a great dish to serve along with Chilean salad.