Recipe: Curried Cassava and Crab Pasteles with Pepper Sauce and Chutney (Puerto Rican)

CURRIED CASSAVA AND CRAB PASTELES WITH
PIQUILLO RED PEPPER SAUCE AND
PAPAYA AND MANGO CHUTNEY

FOR THE PASTELES (CRAB CAKES):
1 cup crab meat, frozen OR canned
1/4 pound cassava (a root; also called yuca), peeled, boiled and grated OR ground
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
1/8 cup all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup bread crumbs
Peanut oil (for frying)
FOR THE PIQUILLO RED PEPPER SAUCE:
2 ounces Spanish pimientos, finely chopped
4 ounces mayonnaise
FOR THE PAPAYA AND MANGO CHUTNEY:
1/2 cup finely chopped mango pulp
1/2 cup finely chopped papaya
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
Tabasco sauce to taste
TO SERVE:
Assorted salad greens, like arugula, romaine and Boston lettuce, shredded
Rosemary sprig

TO PREPARE THE PASTELES:
Combine crab, cassava, green pepper and garlic, in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add curry, lemon juice and mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper.

Have ready a dish with flour, a bowl with the beaten egg and another tray with the bread crumbs. With your hands, form 4 rectangular cakes or pasteles.

Coat pasteles with flour; dip in egg and coat with bread crumbs. Refrigerate, covered, for 1 hour.

Fry pasteles in peanut oil in a deep skillet or frying pan, over high heat, until golden on both sides. Remove carefully with a slotted spatula and drain on paper towels. Place pasteles in a baking dish.

Bake in a preheated 325-degree F oven 6 minutes. Keep warm.

TO PREPARE THE PIQUILLO RED PEPPER SAUCE:
Mix chopped pimientos and mayonnaise well in a mixing bowl.

TO PREPARE THE PAPAYA AND MANGO CHUTNEY:
Mix all chutney ingredients well in a mixing bowl.

TO SERVE:
In center of serving plates, place about 1/2 cup assorted salad greens. Add one pastel on top and top with Chutney. Pour Red Pimiento Sauce on plate, around pastel. Decorate with a rosemary sprig.

Makes 4 servings
Recipe by Mario Pagan, chef-owner of Chayote, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Adapted from source: Puerto Rico: Grand Cuisine of the Caribbean by Jose L. Diaz de Villegas