Corn tortillas are one of the oldest, most consumed and representative foods of Mexican cuisine. With them you can prepare a variety of dishes, including the popular tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tostadas and even chilaquiles.
In the past, all tortillas were prepared by hand, now most are made in tortillerías or are manufactured industrially. The practice of making tortillas by hand is maintained in towns and restaurants that boast traditional Mexican cuisine.
At home, it is possible to make tortillas from scratch, rescuing some of the most ancient and traditional practices in its elaboration, although with some adaptations to make it simpler.
You can prepare a wide variety of tortillas, such as white, blue, yellow and red corn.
How to make homemade corn tortillas
Traditional homemade tortillas are made with dough of nixtamalized corn. When a tortilla is formed, it is placed on a griddle for cooking. Once it is inflated, it is time to remove them from the griddle.
1. Make the dough. You can do the nixtamalization at home. It is a process in which corn is converted into dough. It consists of cooking the corn with lime, letting it rest, rinsing and grinding the grains.
If you decide to skip this ancestral step, you can make the dough with nixtamalized corn flour. Before forming the tortillas, mix the dough with a little water and salt to taste. The dough must be manageable and not fall apart.
2. Form the tortillas. Although some people tend to form tortillas by patting, using a metal or wooden press makes the job much easier.
Make small spheres with the dough, make sure they are of a similar size so that the final size of the tortillas is as well.
Place a plastic wrap on the press and a ball of dough on top, then cover the dough with another plastic wrap. Press the ball of dough, not too hard so as not to adhere it to the plastic. Open the press and peel off the top plastic. Pick up tortilla with plastic wrap on bottom; place the tortilla in one hand and carefully peel off the plastic with the other hand.
3. Cook the tortilla. Place the tortilla on a comal over medium heat on the stove. They can also be cooked on firewood.
Let the tortilla cook on the griddle for approximately 15 seconds before turning it over and leaving it for approximately another 30 seconds, flip the tortilla again and cook for 15 seconds or more as you need. If the tortilla does not inflate after turning it for the last time, you can gently tap the surface with your fingers.
The preparation of tortillas is a process that dates back to before the year 500 BC The Aztecs called them tlaxcalli and later they were baptized as “tortillas” by the Spanish.
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