This recipe for cheese and chilli pupusas was picked up by Hero from our Lat Am team whilst travelling in El Salvador in South America!
Ingredients
- 450g of maize meal/coarse corn meal flour
- 960ml water, warm or at room temperature
- 400g quesillo cheese or mozzarella
- 140g jalapeños, sliced
- Salt to taste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Method
In a large bowl or container, mix together the corn flour, water and salt, gradually until it reaches a consistent and soft textured dough. Pre-heat a pan and lightly grease it with oil. Lightly moisten your hands with some water to stop the dough sticking to your hands. Take some of the dough and make a ball that resembles a large meatball, or slightly larger than a golf ball. Then flatten the ball lightly into a disk shape, resembling a tortilla. Ideally you should keep the tortilla in one hand and hollow it inwards to create a 'cup-like' shape. Add the cheese and jalapeño slices to the centre of the tortilla, the amount of cheese you put in compared to the jalapeño slices depends on how hot you want it, but the portion should generally be slightly smaller than a golf ball in shape and size. Close the tortilla into a dumpling-like shape, enclosing the cheese and jalapeños inside, then carefully flatten it back into a tortilla shape. Place the tortilla in the previously pre-heated pan on a medium temperature and allow it to cook for around three minutes on each side, flipping constantly with a spatula until the tortilla reaches a golden light tone. It is normal that dark spots appear on each side and melted cheese oozes out of the sides, this is a good indicator that the pupusa is now done. You can enjoy these pupusas by themselves or with the traditional curtido (pickled sliced cabbage or coleslaw) and salsa de tomate (fresh tomato sauce). Enjoy!