Classic Colombian Empanadas

For the filling peel and cut the potatoes. Bring to a boil in a pot with salted water and boil for about 15-20min or until soft. Discard the water and immediately mash potatoes, seasoning with a bit of cumin. Set aside.

Peel the white onion and cut into cubes. Fry in a large frying pan with a bit of olive oil. Meanwhile cut bell pepper, and tomatoes into cubes and spring onions into rings, peel garlic. Add everything to the onions, you can either add the mashed garlic or cut it finely. Let everything simmer for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Add the herbs and let everything simmer for another few minutes, then take out of the pan and set aside.

Brown the minced meat in the same frying pan, you may want to use a bit more olive oil. Let it brown completely, add the vegetables again and fry for a few minutes. If you feel that seasoning is missing, add more, it should be properly seasoned. Mix in the mashed potatoes and set aside.

For the dough mix all ingredients and knead by hand for a few minutes. The dough should be moist, if it is crumbly, it needs more water. We are going to roll out the dough between parchment paper, so it cannot be crumbly, buts should be slightly sticky. Divide dough into 30 balls, the size of golf balls. Take a sheet of parchment paper and fold in half. You will now place one dough ball in the middle of one parchment half, place the second parchment half on top and first press it down with a cutting board or similar. Leaving the dough between the parchment paper, you will then roll it out more with a rolling pin. If you need a visual guide, check this short video. While rolling out with a rolling pin, you want to move everything a few degrees so that you have a nice round circle in the end. Your circle should be about 15cm in diameter. Once done, slowly release the circle from the parchment paper, we don't want it sticking when you add the filling. Place 1-2 teaspoons of the filling in the center in a line and fold one half of the circle over. Again, if you need visual help, check the video. Seal with your fingers. I usually cut off most of the overhang and seal it again. It is of utmost importance that the empanadas are properly sealed so nothing comes out when you fry them. You can also try to glue together everything with a bit of water. Prepare all empanadas like that. Tip: as the dough tends to dry quickly, cover empanadas with a damp towel.

Pour the oil in a deep frying pan and bring to medium heat. It should never be hotter than 180 degrees Celsius, 150 degrees is also fine. I usually tend to deep-fry the empanadas in a wide frying pan, as you a) will need less oil and b) you can fry more as you don't want to crowd them too much. I usually fry about 5. Fry for 5 minutes until crisp and golden. I usually turn them around with two forks. As the filling is already done, the main purpose of the frying is to get a crispy outside. You can "feel" this with the forks. If they still feel soft, continue frying. Take out with a ladle and get rid of any access fat. Serve immediately.

You can freeze prepared empanadas, frying them will require some more extra minutes at a slightly lower temperature, I recommend around 140-150 degrees.

For the herbs dip cut all ingredients you can cut and mix with the rest, season to taste. Ají can be made in advance and will keep a few days if covered in the fridge. The taste will intensify. Serve on the side with empanadas and if desired, some more lime juice you can drizzle over the empanadas.