Day 127: Nicaragua and Indio Viejo

Buenas tardes, Raffies!

Today we are going to Nicaragua and we are going to enjoy a traditional dish from this country: Indio Viejo. Translated, it means "Old Indian". Why this name, you may ask?
Well, there is a legend to this dish: Long long time ago, when the first Spanish settlers had come to Nicaragua, this dish was called Marol. Once day, two Spanish travelers were passing by a house. The two were very hungry and a wonderful smell was coming from the house. So they went in and saw a family sitting at the table eating a soup. They asked what it was the people were eating.
The oldest man at the table stood up and said: "we're eating an Old Indian. Would you like some?"
"What is that?", they asked.
" You know, the eldest in the village passed away this morning and we..."
Disgusted, the Spaniards said they weren't hungry after all and left the house as quickly as they could. At that's why this soup is now called "Indio Viejo".

Well, here goes the recipe:

1. For the meat:
500g beef
1 onion
1 green chili
1 clove of garlic
salt

2. For the dough:
5 tortillas
1/2 tbsp oil
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
orange juice
5 stalks basil for garnish
3 green tomatoes

3. For the fried meat:
1/2 c lard (I used butter)
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes (chopped)

4. For the Creole sauce:
1 tsp oil
1 sliced tomato
1 sliced onion
3 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 c water
salt
pepper

Start by tearing the tortilla apart and placing it in a bowl with water for an hour.
Boil the meat with the chopped onion, the chili, the garlic and salt. Remove the meat from the water and pull it with a fork. Keep the broth, for you will need it in a minute.

Now put the tortilla with its water together with the broth you had kept, add the ingredients from 2. (apart from the basil, which will be used for garnish). Cook it until thick and melted together. Put aside.

Stir fry the ingredients from 3. together with the pulled meat in the lard - or butter. After a couple of minutes, add the tortilla mix and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. It should get a golden-yellowish colour.

Mix the ingredients from 4. together. Now you can adjust with salt and place the basil on top. Pour the sauce on top of your Old Indian soup.

This soup had a very rich flavour, that for some crazy reason reminded me of working on a farm or in the fields. Very savoury and nourishing.

Love,

Raffi