Baleadas Hondureñas

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 60g lard or softened butter
• 180ml warm water
• 400g cooked red kidney beans, drained with 100ml liquid reserved
• 1/2 white onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt, for the beans
• 150g queso duro or crumbled feta
• 150g Honduran mantequilla crema, or crème fraîche loosened with a pinch of salt
• 4 large eggs, optional, for baleadas especiales

Before you cook

• Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
• Drain the beans and keep 100ml of their liquid.
• Crumble the cheese into a small bowl.
• Clear a work surface and dust it lightly with flour.

Steps

1. Whisk the flour, one teaspoon of salt and the baking powder together in a large bowl.
2. Rub the lard into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like damp sand.
3. Pour in the warm water and bring the dough together with your hands.
4. Turn the dough onto the floured surface and knead for six minutes, until it is smooth and springs back when pressed.
5. Divide the dough into eight balls, cover them with a tea towel, and rest for twenty minutes.
6. Set a frying pan over medium heat with two tablespoons of oil, add the diced onion, and cook for four minutes until translucent.
7. Stir in the garlic and cumin and cook for one minute.
8. Add the drained beans and half a teaspoon of salt, then mash them in the pan with a potato masher.
9. Splash in the reserved bean liquid a little at a time, stirring, until the beans are thick and spreadable rather than stiff.
10. Cook the beans for four more minutes until they pull away from the base of the pan, then scrape them into a bowl.
11. Roll each dough ball into a thin round about twenty centimetres across, keeping the rest covered as you work.
12. Heat a dry comal or heavy frying pan over medium-high heat until a drop of water skitters across it.
13. Cook a tortilla for about fifty seconds, until pale blisters rise on the underside.
14. Flip it and cook for another forty seconds, then stack it under a tea towel to keep it soft.
15. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds, stacking them as they come off the heat.
16. Spread a generous layer of refried beans over half of each warm tortilla.
17. Drizzle over the mantequilla crema and scatter with crumbled cheese.
18. Fold each tortilla in half over the filling and eat immediately, while the tortilla is still warm and pliable.