pupusas, what am i doing wrong?

Question

i tried to make pupusas and i can't seem to get the dough right. i used corn flour, lard and water but the dough was impossible to fold over, it kept cracking because corn flour has no gluten or elasticity. i tried adding more and more water but it just wouldn't work. i had 2cups of flour 2tbls lard and lots of water. anyone know what im doing wrong? and please keep solutions as authentic as possible.

thanks

also i find they are a bit doughy after cooking them. i am frying them for quite a while so i dont think they are undercooked, should i be frying them in oil?

Answer 1

I think it's the lard ... here's a recipe that doesn't call for it at all:

Ingredients
2 cups masa harina
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp. ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Mix together the masa harina, water, cumin, and a pinch of salt until it the dough becomes soft but not sticky.

Answer 2

here is a link to a recipe http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Pupusa

here is a recipe

Pupusas

Yield: 15 Pupusas

1/2 head of cabbage, sliced fine
1 carrot, grated coarse
5 scallions,white part only, sliced
3 pinches dried oregano
50/50 vinegar and water to cover, about 1 cup
crushed red chiles to taste

4 tomatoes
1 onion
2 Tbsp oil
ground chiles to taste
salt and pepper to taste

4 cups masa de maiz
2 1/2 cup water
1/4 lb Queso con loroco (a shrub flower bud)
1/4 lb chicharron (pork rind filling) for pupusas
oil

Combine the cabbage and carrot and cover with boiling water. Allow to sit for 5 mins., then drain well. Add the remaining ingredients and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs.

Blend together the tomatoes and onion until smooth, adding water to ease blending only if necessary.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the tomato mixture. Boil for about 5 mins. During this time the color of the sauce will deepen slightly. Allow to cool and add ground chiles, salt and pepper. The sauce should not be too spicy. This isn't supposed to be a very spicy dish.

Combine masa and water and knead for about 3 mins. Add more water a bit at a time, if needed, to achieve correct consistency.

Roll a piece of masa in your hand into a ball slightly larger than the size of a golf ball. Flatten the dough into a circle about 1/4 in. thick. Put some chicharron or queso in the center and raise the sides of the dough around it and seal it at the top. Form into a ball again and the flatten the whole thing by patting
it back and forth between your hands. Don't worry too much if some of the stuffing peaks through. The finished pupusas should be about 1/4 to 1/2 in. thick.

Heat a comal or griddle with a light coating of oil and cook the pupusas. Turn a few times to prevent burning and to check if done. Lower the heat if the pupusas are burning before getting cooked
and add more oil to the comal as needed to prevent sticking. They are cooked when the dough looks cooked, sort of how a hand made tortilla would look.

Arrange hot pupusas on a plate for diners to cover with a thin coat of salsa and a mound of curtido. They are best eaten with a fork and knife.

If you cannot find queso con loroco you have two choices. You can buy Monterey Jack cheese and loroco (usually found in the freezer section, although sometimes it can be found fresh). Grate the cheese and chop the loroco fine. Combine to taste and use this to stuff the pupusas, or you can use plain cheese without the loroco.

If you cannot find chicharron for pupusas you can buy chicharron, chop it fine in a food processor, add some tomato and onion, pulse until combined, and stuff this into the pupusas. If you can't get chicharron, you can try cooked bacon prepared as above, but it will have a different flavor because the chicharron isn't smoked. Or, you can just make all cheese pupusas.
http://www.recipecottage.com/mexican/pupusas.html

Answer 3

Try less lard, and use the corn flower special for arepas...this is a Colombian or Venezuelan flower and it is the closest to the original flower we use in Honduras, believe me that i tried all the corn flowers from around here and this is the best one and its easy to work with your hands.

Answer 4

the dough must rest 12- 24 hours to allow the masa to fully rehydrate, more water may need to be kneaded in after rehydration

Answer 5

My name isnt pupusas...