Refried Black Beans

I have to say, I very please with the outcome of this one. With a few bags of black beans, a good amount of gusto but complete lack of a plan, I pulled something off. Trooping home one mid week night with beans soaking and head aching (preceding night involving rum rum scotch scotch baileys port) I set about cooking this interesting refried bean mixture which will be the other dish in my menu being served on chocolate (black pudding being the former). The curious dollop on top of my creation in the photo is a prune which will be soaked in brandy for the grand event. Note to self: must master food photography so not everything looks like dog shit.

1. Had these sods soaking in really quite preposterous proportions the morning before I wanted to cook them.
2. A cunning trick I learnt some time previously that aids both taste and colour is to boil them with some coffee granules. Genius, huh!? Incidentally, they take about 20 minutes but of course you periodically thrust your hand into the boiling water to taste throughout.
   
3. Drain, draining, drained.
4. Now, being clever for the second time in one evening I think about how I want to present these babies. I want the overall bean mixture to be quite stiff and starchy but want to retain some beans intact. So, I divide my bean mountain in two and start playing with half of them in the pan while the other half I leave alone for later.
5. In the pan we've also got: a fair amount of ginger, a small amount of super fine chopped garlic, ground cinnamon sticks, touch of cumin, black urfa chilli flakes and black onion seeds yet again.
   
6. We fry (veg oil), we iterate. Add water, cook down, iterate.
7. I seem to remember adding some ready pulped tamarind.
   
8. Season with sugar and salt.
9. Just before tedium sets in I transfer to my food mixer and blitz.
10. And scream. These shit head emo in goth cloth black beans are white inside.
11. Fine. Back into the pan and then cooked and coloured a tiny bit more with coffee granules, black chilli flakes and black onion seeds. Needless to say I am continually tasting and this is still working in a most mouth watering fashion (but more Dutch Ovens later I'm sure).
12. A shake but no more of black rice flour to give it stickiness and then I'm done.
13. The other half of beans that I saved now get mixed in so I've got both shapes and sludge. Mini whoop. Will be cut into blocks and refried on THE DAY.