Monday, May 19, 2014

Red Bean Quesadilla | Simple Mexican Cooking


So, you have your Tortillas ready and are looking for ways to use them!? Well, then here is one way to do just that! Make Quesadillas!! :) 

Quesadillas (pronounced as Kay-sah-dee-ah. Such a fancy pronunciation isn't it? :)), are  scrumptious and very easy to dish out! You need Tortillas, cheese and basically any filling of your choice to stuff into the tortillas and toast them over a griddle. Its as simple as that! The cheese within melts and binds the folded tortillas together and the filling... oh that gives you the punch as you bite into these Mexican beauties.


My choice of filling for today's Quesadillas are a mixture of red beans, cheese and some simple fresh ingredients like tomatoes, onions, coriander and green chillies. This dish needs not much cooking. I LOVE such dishes, that need minimal cooking and still taste awesome! :)

All the cooking that goes into this is to pressure cook the red beans and finally toast the folded tortillas over the griddles! Everything in between is off the stove... isn't that cool? :)


Makes: 10 Quesadillas
Adapted from here.


Ingredients

Tortillas - 10
Red Kidney Beans | Rajma - 1 big cup, pressure cooked.
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Coriander Leaves - 2 tblsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp
Green Chilly - 1, finely minced
Cheese - 1/4 cup, grated
Mayonnaise & Tomato Ketchup - as needed (optional, but highly recommended!)
Salt - as needed

Butter - as needed



Method


  • Pressure cook the kidney beans well. Allow it to cool and coarsely mash the beans. Add salt and pepper and mix well. 
  • Chop onion and mix in the lemon juice. 
  • Chop tomatoes and keep aside.
  • Keep ready the grated cheese and chopped coriander as well. 

 
Assembling the Quesadilla:
  • Take a tortilla on a work board.
  • On half the portion, spread about 2-3 tbsp of mashed red beans.
  • Add on, onion, tomato, green chillies, coriander and cheese. You may add in Mayonnaise and tomato ketchup, if you are using them, at this stage. This enhances the taste a great deal!  
I made the first few quesadillas without these two ingredients, that is why you do not see them in the step-wise pics...but when the husband wanted more punch in the filling and suggested I add in these two... I simply loved this version! So yes, these two are highly recommended :)
  • Fold the tortilla exactly into half and ensure you cover the filling completely. Gently press.
  • Heat a griddle and slightly grease it with butter. Place the folded, stuffed tortilla and toast on both sides on medium flame. The cheese inside melts in the process and binds the tortilla halves together. 
  • And... your Quesadilla is ready! Slice them into halves and serve :)

5 comments:

  1. love quesadilla and totally love the combo of red beans with onion tomato. So delicious, I'll make some this weekend :)

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  2. I loved the filling Nandita, and also the fact that one can be very creative when it comes to filling depending on taste and choice of ingredients. Thanks for introducing us to Mexican food.

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