My first try at making Pupusas

We found this wonderful little Mexican/El Salvadoran restaurant near us and I discovered Pupusas for the first time.  I love these things!  They are a little pocket of goodness.  It is an El Salvadoran stuffed flat bread.  It is served with Curtido, an El Salvadoran type of slaw, with Salsa Roja on top.  This salsa isn't the spicy kind of salsa we are used to in Mexican cuisine, it's more of a tomato sauce.  It has onion, garlic, tomato sauce, and oregano in it.  (you can also add a little chili pepper of some kind in there if you want).

So one day we were eating at this establishment and I said, I bet I could make this....so I did a lot of research and tried my hardest, but I think making Pupusa's takes a lot of practice.  I just couldn't keep the filling inside.   They didn't taste all that bad, but they sure weren't like the ones I've eaten at El Cuscateleco.

My Curtido wasn't as good as their's either, and my Salsa Roja was a bit too thick.  I even made home made refried beans, and a Mexican rice.  (I couldn't find a recipe for an El Salvadoran rice, but the rice we have at El Cuscateleco is different than the rice at most Mexican restaurants.  It doesn't have any peppers, it has an orange tint, and has carrots in it.  I just love it.

So I tried to make Pupusas, if you read the instructions it sounds easy, but it's not.
Here's the recipe I used:
Pupusas

2 cups Mesa Harina
1 cup warm water (add more water 1 tablespoon at a time until mixture is firm but moist.  When you press down on it you don't want it to crack.)

Roll the dough into a cylinder shape, divide into 8 equal parts.  Form a ball with one of the parts, press your thumb in the middle to make a large indention, add filling, and close carefully, then press flat by clapping in your hands.

Now doesn't that sound easy....yeah, not so much.  They didn't close very easily, and when I tried to flatten them the filling squeezed out everywhere.  I ended up with pupusas with nothing really inside.
Later I read that this is the more advanced way to make them.  If you are a beginner, like me, you should take your ball of dough and separate it into two smaller segments.  Then press those flat like you would a tortilla, but they are a little bit thicker.  Place the filling in the middle of one half, and cover with the other half and seal the edges.  (Sounds a lot like making ravioli.)  I can see where this would be much easier.

You then cook them on a hot griddle or in a flat pan, (It said not to oil it, but I did, there isn't any oil in this mixture so it would have stuck if I didn't spray the pan.) cook them for about 2 minutes on each side until they are browning.

You can make many different kinds of pupusas.  I made Pupusas de Frijoles Refritos (refried beans) and Pupusas de Queso (cheese).  Pupusas Revueltas (made with a mixture of pork in tomato sauce with refried beans and cheese are a favorite at the restaurant we go to.

Please see whats4eats for more information about Pupusas, and you can see the exact recipe I used.

I also got my recipe for Curtido and Salsa Roja from that site.

I made the mistake of picking up a savoy cabbage by mistake and used it for the Curtido, it really needed regular cabbage.  I read other recipes and some of them called for oregano, I will say the flavor really perked up after I added the oregano.  I think the restaurant we go to uses the pineapple vinegar that is traditional with this dish, but of course I didn't have any.  I used 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (again, because of reading other recipes).  This dish is much better if you let it sit over night on the counter.  It ferments a little and the flavors have time to really mix together.  (this wasn't bad, but it wasn't the wonderful curtido that I eat at El Cuscateleco.

I made wonderful refried beans in the crock pot.

Non- fat "Refried" Beans (slow cooker recipe)


I made a pot of pinto beans in my cooker over night.  (1 pound of dried beans cleaned and picked over, cover with 2 inches of water above the beans, and cook on low for at least 8 hours.)

The next day I took out some of the beans and left the amount I thought we'd eat.  I added some thinly chopped onion and minced garlic that had been sauteed until the onion was translucent.
I left some of the cooking liquid in the pot.  I used my immersion blender to mash up the beans until smooth.

They were so good.  Next time I will probably add the onion and garlic to the beans I while they are cooking over night.  I love that flavor in my beans anyway.

The Mexican Rice really wasn't all that great, so I won't even bother sharing that recipe with you.

I will let you know when I attempt to make Pupusas again, and if they turn out any better!