The Antioquia/paisa style. Traditionally built on pork — this version gets its body from a ripe plantain melting into the pot instead, which is where much of the sweetness and thickness comes from anyway.
1 ripe plantain (yellow with black spots), peeled, in chunks
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt
Hogao — the sofrito that makes it Colombian
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 scallions, sliced, whites and greens
4 tomatoes finely diced, or one 14 oz can
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp smoked paprika, standing in for achiote
Salt and black pepper
To finish
Chopped cilantro
Lime wedges
Method
1. Beans in the pot
Drain the soaked beans into the Instant Pot. Add water or stock, carrot, plantain, bay leaves and 1 tsp cumin. No salt yet.
2. Pressure cook
High Pressure 12 min, natural release 15 min. Unsoaked beans: 40 min, full natural release. The plantain should be falling apart.
3. Hogao, meanwhile
Stovetop, oil over medium: onion and scallions 5 min until soft, garlic 30 seconds, then tomatoes, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper. Simmer 10–15 min to a thick jammy sauce, not watery.
This is the step worth not rushing. Watery hogao makes watery beans.
4. Combine and thicken
Remove the bay leaves and carrot. Stir the hogao through. Mash some of the beans and plantain against the side of the pot, or pulse briefly with an immersion blender, until the broth is a loose gravy — not smooth.
5. Finish
Salt to taste now. Simmer uncovered on Sauté 5–10 min to tighten. Cilantro and lime at the table.
Serving
Classic: over white rice with a fried ripe plantain alongside. A fried egg on top is the usual Colombian move and keeps it pescatarian
Lighter: beans over greens, rice as a small side, to keep it to about one starchy carb
Baby portion: scoop beans and plantain out before the salt and lime — soft, mashable, mild
Notes
Every spice needed is already in the house — cumin, smoked paprika, bay, black pepper. Shopping is produce plus the dried beans
No alcohol; tomato and lime do the acid
Freezes 3 months. Thickens hard in the fridge — loosen with water when reheating
Cargamanto and cranberry/borlotti are the same bean. A Latin grocery will have cargamanto