Corn Tortillas - Chola roti

Making Corn Tortillas at home has been a long time wish. On our trip to Costa Rica corn tortillas invariably served during breakfast became a favorite - soft and light what is not to like?

Friday's morning forecast said wintry mix Friday night into Saturday, that meant if it was a little over an inch of snow we'd be stuck in the house unable to go anywhere. These are days I look forward to even though I hate the snow, because they are perfect to try out recipes that have been on the to-try list. So I bought a big bag of maiz harina or (Maize) Corn Flour. As snow predictions in the DC area go it is correct about 25% of the time. So by night the forecast had changed to icy rain but in the morning there was nothing sticking on the ground. So corn tortillas had to wait.

Anyway this morning presented a good enough chance to try the corn tortillas. Compared to learning to make chapthis or rotis with wheat flour making corn tortillas are very easy. The poori press came in very handy to press the tortillas because being gluten free the corn flour does not lend itself to being rolled without breaking apart.

I followed the recipe on the Meseca flour bag and it worked pretty well Corn Flour is not be confused with corn starch which is used to thicken sauces and coating for deep frying. This Corn flour is ground corn used for making tortillas or other breads. The Indian Makki di roti which is the staple in rural parts of Punjab is very similar to the corn tortillas.

Take corn flour and salt in a bowl, add about 1/4 cup of water and mix it into the flour.
Add more water a little at a time till the flour comes together into a smooth dough. Not too dry or too wet.
Keep covered with a damp towel till ready to use. Take a small lime sized ball of dough and place it in between 2 sheet of plastic on a poori press or tortilla press.
Press to circular discs of about 3-4 inches in diameter. Transfer the pressed tortillas onto to a heated griddle.
Cook the tortilla on one side till it starts to get spots or rise a little bit.Flip and cook on the other side. Keep warm wrapped in a towel till ready to eat.

Corn Tortillas - Chola Roti
Preparation Time:5 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 cups of corn flour
2. 1/2 tsp salt
3. 1/2 cup of water

Method

1. Add the salt to the corn flour and slowly add the water while mixing the flour and water with the tip of the fingers till the dough comes together.
2. The dough should not be tool dry or too wet. Keep covered with the damp towel till ready to use.
3. Keep two thick pieces of plastic ready. I just split a zip lock bag by cutting into two.
4. Take a small lime sized piece of dough and roll into a smooth ball.
5. Heat a griddle and using the poori press, press the ball between the 2 pieces of plastic into a flat disc.
6. When the tortillas have been pressed to the desired thickness transfer them onto the heated griddle.
7. Cook on one side for a minute till bubbles start to appear. Flip and cook on the other side for another minutes.
8. Keep it warm in wrapped in a cloth towel till ready to eat.

Serve with roasted vegetables ,chickens, red beans and rice for that matter any curries of choice.

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