Colombian Empanadas
Crispy corn-dough empanadas with a beef and potato filling cooked in hogao. Fried until golden and eaten hot with lime and ají.
- prep
- 50 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total
- 1 h 15 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- medium
Colombian empanadas are different from the wheat-flour ones most people know. The shell is yellow corn masa, which fries up crisp and slightly chewy, and the filling is beef and potato cooked down with hogao, the tomato and spring onion base that flavors half of Colombian cooking.
They are street food, sold outside bakeries and bus stations, always with lime wedges and a pot of ají to spoon over. This recipe makes about 18.
Empanadas are number 4 on our list of the top 20 famous Colombian foods.
method
Boil the diced potatoes in salted water until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and mash them roughly, leaving some texture.
Make the hogao: cook the spring onions, tomato, garlic and cumin in a little oil over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and jammy. Season with salt.
Brown the beef in the same pan, breaking it up. Stir in the hogao and the potatoes, taste for salt, and let the filling cool.
Mix the masarepa, turmeric and a teaspoon of salt. Add the warm water and the tablespoon of oil and knead for 2 to 3 minutes into a soft, smooth dough. Rest it for 5 minutes under a damp cloth.
Roll the dough into balls the size of a golf ball. Flatten each one thin between two sheets of plastic, spoon filling onto one half, fold the plastic over to close, and press the edge shut. Trim to a neat half-moon with the rim of a cup.
Heat oil to 175°C (350°F). Fry the empanadas in batches for 3 to 4 minutes until deep golden and crisp. Drain on paper and serve hot with lime and ají.
chef's tips
- Corn dough dries out fast. Keep it covered with a damp cloth the whole time you work.
- Seal the edges firmly. A gap lets oil in and the empanada bursts.
- Keep the oil hot between batches. If it drops too low the shells soak oil instead of crisping.