pupusas*

One of the students have been begging me to make these for months. I guess today was the big day to make over 200 pupusas! They actually weren't as hard as I thought they would be, but it did take 3 of us - at one time 4 of us - to make them so that they would be done just in time! By about 157 we were fatiguing :)! They turned out pretty good though and I thought they were pretty tasty! This was the first time I have ever made a pupusa, ate a pupusa, or even seen a pupusa. This kind lady on YouTube taught me how to make them earlier today :).

If you have never heard of a pupusa (like me), they are basically a homemade corn tortilla stuffed with cheese, beans and/or meats. I guess they are basically a quesadilla, only not...and they come from El Salvador.

The directions for making these are quite simple. First off, you need to buy yourself a bag of masa harina, which is basically a corn flour. You want to follow the directions on the package. On the back there are directions for making tamales and other recipes, but on the side is the recipe you want to follow to make a basic tortilla. I think it is about 2 cups masa to 1 1/4 cup warm water. Once you start mixing water into the masa you will have to start playing with it to see if you need to add a little more water so that it doesn't crack.

Next, roll your masa into a ball and then make it into a little bowl in your hand.

Fill the bowl with cheese (you can also add whatever else you would like - beans, pork, chicken, beef, etc.)

Cinch together the sides so that there are no openings.

Then form the dough back into a ball. While you are forming the ball, dip your fingers into some oil to prevent the dough from cracking.

Next flatten the circle, while being careful not to let it split open. You don't want any of the cheese to ooze out while its cooking.

Now it's time to put the pupusa on a warm pan/flat grill on medium-high heat.

Let the pupusa cook for about 5 minutes on each side, or just until it is turning golden brown.

And that's it! It looks kind of complicated, but it's easy to get the hang of. Or maybe that's only because we made so many! As I mentioned earlier, you can put whatever you would like inside. Because this was our first time making these, I decided to stick to only cheese in case we were getting in way over our heads. I think next time I am going to fill them with refried beans and cheese. Sounds yummy! I think there is a cabbage slaw that they normally serve with these in El Salvador, so maybe next time I will learn how to make that and serve it on the side. Today I served some quick and easy black beans, which will be coming soon to the blog :) and some sour cream and homemade salsa (whether or not that's normal with pupusas, I have no idea)...

-alyssa*