Mexican Tortillas
Submitted by missy44263
Homemade Mexican corn tortillas with maize meal, white flour, and lard, kneaded, rested, rolled thin, and dry-fried on a griddle. A versatile flatbread for tacos, enchiladas, or scooping.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
10 minREADY
25 minMaize meal and white flour in equal parts, a bit of lard rubbed in, and warm water to bring it together. These homemade tortillas use a British-metric approach to the Mexican staple, producing large 10-inch rounds that fry on an ungreased griddle until lightly spotted and pliable.
The hour-long rest under a damp tea towel is what makes the dough rollable. Fresh-mixed dough springs back and fights the rolling pin. Rested dough relaxes and rolls thin without shrinking.
No oil on the griddle. Dry-frying at fairly high heat gives you the characteristic light brown spots and a slightly charred flavor. Oil would make these greasy instead of dry and flexible.
The recipe includes a useful overview of how tortillas serve across Mexican cooking: flat as bread, rolled as tacos, stuffed and sauced as enchiladas, or sweetened for dessert.
Kitchen Tips
- Rub the lard into the flour mixture until it looks like breadcrumbs. This distributes the fat evenly for a tender, pliable dough.
- Roll each ball as thin as possible on a floured surface. Thick tortillas are tough and crack when folded.
- Cook on high heat, turning once. Each side needs just 30-60 seconds to develop brown spots.
- Keep cooked tortillas warm in a clean towel. They stiffen as they cool and crack if you try to fold them cold.
Variations
- All corn: Use masa harina instead of the maize-flour blend for a more traditional, 100% corn tortilla.
- Whole wheat: Replace white flour with whole wheat for a nuttier, higher-fiber tortilla.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the maize meal, salt and white flour in a large bowl, add the lard or margarine and rub in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and mix to a dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a short time until smooth.
Shape the dough into 4 equal balls, roughly the size of a tennis ball, and let them rest for about an hour covered with a damp tea towel.
Roll each ball out thinly on the floured surface to a circle about 25cm (10 inch) in diameter.
Heat an ungreased griddle or large frying pan and fry the maize meal pancakes over a fairly high heat, turning them over so they are lightly brown on each side.
Variations.
The tortilla is a multi-purpose bread and can be served as it is, a thin, flat cornbread to accompany food.
It can also be used as a platter or scoop for thick meat or bean mixtures.
It can be fried on one side only and rolled round a chilli-and-bean stuffing to become a Taco, or stuffed, sometimes fried and coated in sauce when it is known as an Enchillada.
Finally, it can be sprinkled with sweet mixtures and served as a pudding.
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