On our first day in El Salvador our host, Jose, asked us if we had tasted THE specialty of the country: The Pupusas! On the same we were going to a Pupuseria (restaurant which serves only Pupusas) in order to try this dish typically Salvadoran.

Usually served with Curtido (gabage salad) and a tomato sauce, the Pupusas are stuffed corn tortillas. The filling can vary from one place to another, however, there is one national Pupusa : El Pupusa frijoles y queso (filled with red bean and cheese).

Thanks to Mary, Jose’s wife, for teaching us how to cook the Pupusas. Here is her recipe :

Ingredients for 8 pupusas:

The sauce:

– 4 tomatoes
– 1 green pepper
– 1/2 onion
– Salt and pepper

The Curtido:

– 1/2 cabbages
– 1 large carrot
– 1 red onion
– 1 small chilli
– 150 ml of white vinegar
– 1 tablespoon sugar
– Salt and pepper

The dough:

– 300g flour nixtamalized corn (or masa de harina, a special tortilla corn flour)
– 400ml of warm water
– 25g butter
– 1 chicken stock cube
– 1 pinch of salt

Filling :

– 300g quesillo cheese (or mozarella)
– 200g of cooked red beans
– 1 clove of garlic
– Half onion

1) Preparation of the sauce: Mix together the tomatoes, green pepper and onion. Add salt and pepper and cook the mixture for 5 minutes over high heat and let cool down.

2) Preparation of Curtido: Chop the cabbage, rinse with water and then drain it. Grate the carrots, chop the onion, the chilli and mix it with the cabbage. Then add the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and keep it cool.

3) Preparation of the dough: Put flour in a large bowl, add the butter, the crushed stock cube and salt. Then pour water gradually, while mixing until you get a homogeneous and compact dough.

4) Preparation of the filling: Mix the beans (with juice) with the garlic and the onion, then cook until the water disappears. You must get a paste. Cool down. Mix the cheese to make it less compact.

5) Preparation of Pupusas: Take some dough in hand and form a ball of about 5cm diameter. Make a hollow in the middle and put some filling. Then fold the edges to enclose the filling into the dough. You must get a new ball. Then gently flatten the ball between your hands to get tortilla (be careful to keep the filling inside). Pupusas have now a good shape, you just need to cook them.

6) Heat a oiled pan and once the pan is very hot drop the Pupusas and cook them until both sides are golden brown (remember to return regularly).

Now your Pupusas are ready (careful it’s very very hot!). Serve them with Curtido covered with the sauce.

Your turn to enjoy !

PS: Feel free to garnish your Pupusas with whatever you like ! Do not hesitate to share your tests!