Tortillas and Chips (with video)

Tortillas

We make these every week in our house. Our family has always had nachos on Sunday night after church. In America it was because nachos were convenient. Just grab a bag of chips, cheese, a can of beans and a tub of sour cream and BAM! Nachos for a crowd. Here in PNG, though, it’s not quite that simple. We aren’t able to get most precooked or packaged foods like we can in the States. 

Just cause you can’t grab that stuff at the store, though, doesn’t mean you can’t have them. Tortillas are super easy to make! And they make great tortilla chips! They actually make great everything!

Here’s how its done. 

Mix 2 cups flour 

      1 teaspoon baking powder 

      1/2 teaspoon salt 

      1/4 cup oil (don’t use coconut unless you want sweet tortillas.) 

      1 1/2- 3/4 cups warm water

Mix and knead dough until you have a soft dough. If you need more flour feel free to add what’s needed. Let the dough rest for ten minutes. Cut the dough into four pieces,  and roll each piece into a 1 inch thick snake. Then, using your fingers as a guide, cut the snakes. Two finger widths makes perfect taco size tortillas. Three to four make good medium sized tortillas. And a hand breadth makes large tortillas. Play around and figure out what size you like best. 

Roll out tortillas to desired thickness. Go thinner than you think you need to as they do rise slightly while cooking.

Cook on a hot cast iron pan. When the top of the tortillas starts to bubble, flip it. When that side starts to brown you know it’s done. 

These are super good to eat fresh with butter and hot pepper flakes! Yum! 

Or you can cut them into strips or triangles and fry them in hot oil. When frying, remove chips before they are golden brown. When they start to brown on the edges remove from oil. The chips continue cooking even after you remove them from the oil. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy. 

You can also make corn tortillas (which are my dad’s favorite) even if you don’t have masa. As long as you’ve got popcorn in your pantry, you’re good to go! But, that’s another blog post!

https://youtu.be/9iRgNTyen2M