Chimichangas Cha Cha Cha!

By popular demand, here is the recipe for the chimichangas that I made recently, give or take some ingredients. I made them with the exception of garlic and onions and they still turned out tasting good. To be perfectly honest, though, they taste better with!

For the homemade tomato sauce, you will need:
1 can of Rotel sauce
½ can of Hunts tomato sauce/puree
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp green chili paste
½ tsp red chili powder
½ tsp crushed black pepper
Salt per taste
Sugar per taste
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Azteca medium sized flour tortillas
Homemade beans
Shredded cheese
Toothpicks
Garnishments i.e. chopped onions; chopped lettuce ; sour cream; homemade guacamole; etc.
Oil for deep frying

Step 1: Make your sauce.

• Puree the Rotel sauce with the Hunts sauce and a few splashes of water. The Rotel sauce tends to be too chunky.
• Heat up the sauce on medium heat. Add in the garlic paste, green chili paste, black pepper, red chili powder, salt and sugar. Adjust per taste.
• Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro towards the end. Keep aside. (Reheat sauce before serving.)

Step 2: Assemble the chimichangas.

• Heat up 3 tortillas at a time in the microwave for about 30 seconds. (This allows you to be able to fold them better. Keep the plate of heated tortillas covered while you work on assembling one at a time to prevent them from drying out.)
• Place about 2 tbsp of the beans at center of the tortilla. Sprinkle a little bit of cheese on top. (The KEY is to not overstuff the chimichangas because if you do, they will break open when you deep fry them. Less is better.)
• Fold the left flap over. Then right flap. Hold in place. {looks like a burrito}
• Now fold down the top flap. While holding in place with one hand, gently insert one toothpick into the tortilla with your other hand.
• Repeat above step for bottom flap. {should look like a square burrito now}
• Voila, you just made yourself a chimichanga! Now make the remaining chimichangas. Keep aside.

Step 3: Heat up oil in deep pan. When oil is just right for frying, deep fry the chimichangas right before serving.

Step: Serve and enjoy!

• Place one chimichanga on plate. Pour 1-2 ladlefuls of the sauce on top of the chimichanga.
  
• Garnish with the following toppings (in no particular order): lettuce, tomatoes, onions, shredded cheese, guacemole, and sour cream.
• Serve with Spanish rice and any leftover homemade beans on the side.

I remember the first time we made these back home for some family friends, they loved them and were dying for the recipe. For entertaining, you can't go wrong because this dish is guaranteed to be a hit! Everyone is always impressed with how to make them, but you do not have to tell them how easy it was! That's our little secret. ;)