Pupusas
El Salvador’s national dish: thick tortillas of maize dough stuffed with cheese, beans or pork crackling, cooked on the griddle and served with curtido (pickled cabbage) and tomato sauce.
Ingredients
- 400 g nixtamalised maize flour (masa harina)
- 500 ml lukewarm water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Filling: 250 g grated fresh cheese or mozzarella, refried beans or chopped pork crackling
- Curtido: 1/2 cabbage, 1 carrot, 1/2 onion, 200 ml vinegar, oregano and salt
- Salsa: 3 tomatoes and 1/4 onion
How to make it at home
- For the curtido, grate the cabbage, carrot and onion, scald them with boiling water, drain and dress with vinegar, oregano and salt; leave to stand for at least 2 hours.
- Mix the maize flour with the lukewarm water and salt until you have a smooth dough that doesn’t crack.
- Make balls the size of a tangerine, open them out in your palm with a hollow, put in a spoonful of filling and close them up.
- Flatten them with wet hands into discs a centimetre thick.
- Cook them on a hot griddle or frying pan for 4 or 5 minutes on each side, until they have golden spots.
- Serve with the curtido and a sauce of blended tomato and onion.
The trick: Wet your hands with water and a little oil so the dough doesn’t stick.