Pupusas

[secondbase]

my dad is absolutely OBSESSED with pupusas and he makes them all the time. i will give him this recipe so he can make me some pupusas i can actually eat!

[kay9bee]

The ingredients say 1 cup Mesa Harina/Corn Flour - but in the instructions it says 2 cups??  I really want to try this but would like to find out first which is correct.

[faunablues]

It doesn't really matter how many cups of masa, since you add just enough water to hold it together. I recommend, after achieving this, adding just a *wee bit* more water so that the dough is elastic enough to be pressed thin without cracking too much.

I like these filled with refried black beans and Follow Your Heart's cheddar (or nacho cheddar, if you do the spicy thing.). I think a little Tofutti Better Thaan Cream Cheese would be good too.

[TnT]

I have watched several Salvadorian's make the dough for the pupusas, but am still having a hard time getting the right consistency. It always cracks no matter how moist the dough is. This recipe does not clear up that confusion, especially for a novice.

[faunablues]

I have watched several Salvadorian's make the dough for the pupusas, but am still having a hard time getting the right consistency. It always cracks no matter how moist the dough is. This recipe does not clear up that confusion, especially for a novice.

I think the key for me is not flattening it with my hands, and using a tortilla press and plastic wrap (or pressing the dough with a large, flat plate on the counter). It seems putting even pressure on it in an instant reduces the cracks. When I tried flattening them with my hands, flattening from the inside out, it resulted in cracks. It took me a long time to figure out you can't treat it like bread dough...

... but it still tasted good =)

[animeheather]

There is a place here that makes them with black beans and cheese...and love that little salad that they put on top of them. There is also a store that sells them in a box with a certain type of flower (not flour) and cheese.

Ive been looking for a good recipe for pupusas...now if i can just find one for vegan carnitas.

[uncoiled]

i always have a little cup of water to dip my fingers in while preparing the dough. helps get rid of cracks and keep the whole thing together.

[Kay Kay Ren]

I'm Salvadorian, and since I grew up in the suburbs, my mom made all of our traditional dishes. This is perhaps my second favorite Salvadorian dish, just behind fried yucca with curtido (the cabbage sauerkraut salad thing that in my opinion can go with every Salvadorian meal).

but if you are going to eat a pupusa, I suggest you do make curtido and salsa de tomate. The curtido is simple to make, its just one medium shredded cabbage, two shredded carrots, and one thinly sliced medium onion (you can go fancy and add shredded zucchini if you like). Place the veggies in a container and fill it up with one part vinegar and two-part water, but make sure the veggies are completely covered. If you want you can dilute the vinegar more. add salt to taste, and about two tablespoon of oregano. Stir and Let it sit for an hour or two. I eat curtido on top of my black bean soup, with tofu scrambles, with yucca, with pupusas, and I put it on sandwiches all the time. So I highly recommend if you're gonna eat pupusas, you eat them the way I've always had them in the markets of El Salvador and in the 'burbs.

[oktokrewl]

I made these today with the banana black beans recipe on this site  that i made into refried banana black beans   http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=18538.0

I unfortunately didint have masa harina cuz for some reason the caribbean island i live on is the only one that doesnt know what mexican food is.. so i got super fine cornmeal and blended it in my spice mill to make it finer.. i then added a little lime juice to it cuz masa harina is corn treated with lime..

all in all it turned out nice, but would have been way better with the correct cornflour.. also i couldnt get the tortilla super flat so the bread part of these are a little thick and would have benefited from a pinch of salt in the dough.. so instead i sprinkled salt on top hehe

but aside from that, these are super delicious with some really good homemade salsa and a little salad on top thanks for a new recipe.. i usually make empanadas but these are a nice change of pace

[animal_g]

i made some of these bad boys without ever seeing one (aside form oktokrewls inspitational pic ) and without ever tasting  one. I was happy with the results , i followed the recipe pretty much. I had no refried black beans so I Rachel Ray'ed it and mashed up a can drained can of black beans with my fork and slow cooked them with 1/2 a bay leaf.; used 1 cup of masa flour and  enough water for a smooth dough; then i misread the recipe and smashed 2 balls of dough in a plastic bag with the bottom of my cutting board before I added the filling;, also added some of the cheese from the cheesy bean enchilada recipe inside.I sealed the 2 flattened masa circles together with the bean and cheeze within,  and fryed the sucker. It worked because  did not have any cracking problems , yet I am not sure if this constitutes real pupusa?...;i I only suggest that you keep the dough on some type of plastic surface while filling, sealing,etc.,  so you can peel it off without tearing the ever delicate dough. fry them slowly, ideally for several minutes on each side;flipping only once but I think you have to experiment with your heat source to get this right.
I used kay kays curtido recipe on top which is so good! even by itself. It reminded me that I do like cabbage without a bunch of salt and potatoes mixed in..this is good but next time I will follow the recipe and smoosh after I fill the pupusas.I feel that experimentation with the filling can result in some fantastical results. *I added a lil salt to the dough mixture also for some extra flav.

this was pretty easy to make all in all

[BIANCAROSE]

I have watched several Salvadorian's make the dough for the pupusas, but am still having a hard time getting the right consistency. It always cracks no matter how moist the dough is. This recipe does not clear up that confusion, especially for a novice.

Get a cup of warm water to work with while forming the pupusa. Use the water to smooth the edges and top before you cook them.

[naturalbrownsugar]

I had no refried black beans so I Rachel Ray'ed it and mashed up a can drained can of black beans with my fork and slow cooked them with 1/2 a bay leaf.

No, you didn't Rachel Ray it, darling.  You animal_g'ed it!  It irritates me when cooking show hosts get all the credit for all the ideas that didn't come from the back of a box of corporate mixed food.  Before those beans made it to a can, cooked in who knows what, and labeled vegetarian, our grandparents got in the kitchen and smushed the mess outta some beans in a frying pan.  I did it last week in a microwave with a little olive oil and a ton of cumin.  I naturalbrowsugared them pintos.  Take credit for your effort!  It saved you money, likely added flavor, and can really be called yours.

[guanaca69]

You can't eat pupusas w/o curtido and the salsa.  Kay Kay has added the recipe for the curtido.  In El Salvador red pepper flakes are added
to the curtido to give it a little heat.  You can use as little or as much as you can tolerate.
When making curtido do not use metal spoons or bowls.  I suggest a plastic container with a lid  and use  wooden spoon to mix everything well. 
Also, if you can make the curtido a few days in advance it will taste that much better. 

[Allychristine]

Well...mine didn't turn out at all like pupusas (I guess?), but they still tasted great. I made a great filling with black beans, spices, green pepper, jalapeño, and green onion..and when I realized my dough was just coming apart, I just folded them over. I was just trying to do it with my hands...and it just wasn't working out! Oh well!