Homemade tortillas by Cool Chile
There is nothing like getting your hands into masa and making tortillas, it feels, smells and tastes great.
Makes 35 small tortillas or about 18 larger ones.
330ml hot tap water
Combine 250g masa harina with 330ml of hot water to form a dough. Leave covered for 15mins. Knead in more water
if necessary, the texture should be like soft clay but not sticky.
To form the tortillas, pinch off a piece of dough and roll into a ball. Have a little pot of cold water near by to dip your finger tips into when rolling if the dough feels a little dry. 15g balls make 8-10cm tortillas, 25-30g balls make 12-15cm tortillas. Place the dough ball between two sheets of plastic (a plastic bag cut into 20cm squares works well), either roll out into
a 3mm deep circle with a rolling pin or use a tortilla press (available to buy in our gift & kits section).
Peel the plastic off the top piece of plastic, then place the uncovered side of the tortilla in your palm and at an angle carefully remove the other piece of plastic.
In a dry, medium- hot frying pan or comal, gently place your tortilla so as not to trap any air, cook for 15 seconds or until the tortilla releases itself from the pan, turn over and cook the other side for 30-45 seconds, turn once more, hopefully
the tortilla will puff, you can help it along by gently pressing the edges when you see a bubble forming. A cooked tortilla that has puffed has two faces, the side that puffs will be thinner and have a few brown spots, that is the top and the other, thicker, paler side that hasn’t puffed, is the bottom.
Have a folded clean tea towel by the side and as you make the tortillas tuck them in the tea towel to keep warm.