Pupusas recipe

Thick stuffed corn cakes patted shut by hand and cooked dry on a hot comal, served with fermented cabbage curtido.

4 hoursmedium10 ingredients

Ingredients

• 500 g masa harina
• 600 ml warm water
• 250 g quesillo
• 250 g chicharrón
• 200 g refried red beans
• 1 cabbage
• 1 carrot
• 200 ml white vinegar
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp salt

How to make Pupusas

1. Start the curtido first, it needs time: shred half a cabbage and 1 carrot, scald them in boiling water, then pack with 200 ml of white vinegar, 2 tsp of oregano and salt. Leave at least 3 hours, overnight is better.
2. Mix 500 g of masa harina with 600 ml of warm water and 2 tsp of salt. The dough should feel like soft wet clay. Rest it 10 minutes, it firms up.
3. For the chicharrón filling, grind 250 g of cooked pork with a little tomato, onion and green pepper into a paste. Mixed with refried beans and quesillo it becomes a revuelta.
4. Wet your hands with oiled water, roll 80 g of dough into a ball and press a deep cup into it with your thumb.
5. Drop in 2 tbsp of filling, close the dough completely over it, then flatten by patting the ball between your palms into a 12 cm disc about 7 mm thick.
6. Heat a comal or cast iron pan until very hot and cook the pupusas dry, with no oil at all. Oil makes them greasy and stops the brown blisters from forming.
7. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, until dark spots appear and cheese starts to seep out at the edge.
8. Serve straight off the pan with curtido and a thin tomato salsa, eaten with your hands.

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