COPPERTorta frita recipe
A thin, crisp Uruguayan fried dough disc with a small cut in its centre, made on rainy days to go with mate.
Ingredients
- 500 g wheat flour
- 50 g beef fat
- 250 ml warm water
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
How to make Torta frita
- Mix 500 g wheat flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt in a bowl.
- Rub in 50 g softened beef fat (or butter) until the mixture looks sandy.
- Add about 250 ml warm water little by little and knead 5 minutes into a soft, smooth dough.
- Cover and let it rest 20 minutes.
- Roll the dough out thin, about 5 mm, and cut discs of about 10 cm.
- Make a small cut or hole in the centre of each disc so it does not puff into a ball.
- Fry the discs in beef fat or neutral oil heated to about 175 °C, 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden.
- Drain on paper and sprinkle with sugar, or salt if you prefer; eat warm with mate.
What is Torta frita?
Torta frita is a traditional dish from Uruguay, cooked in a pan, and takes about 55 minutes from start to finish. It is built around wheat flour and beef fat. The recipe below uses 6 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Torta frita take?
At 55 minutes it is quicker than 80% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 12 dishes built on wheat flour. The method runs to 8 steps, the longest being 20 minutes.
Any tips for making Torta frita?
Cut a small slit or hole in the centre of each thin disc before frying so it cooks through instead of puffing into a ball.
How Torta frita compares
Beef fat appears in no other dish in the atlas.
Copper documents Uruguay alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.