Pupusas

I uploaded an updated spreadsheet.  Go here to download it.

I enjoyed eating pupusas regularly when I lived in New York.  Unfortunately, I've had trouble find good ones anywhere else, and I have missed them.  Finally I have learned how to make them.   It took some experimenting because none of the recipes I found online tasted like the ones I had in New York.  All of those recipes called for the dough to be made with only instant masa and water.  This resulted in a dry, tough exterior not the soft exterior of the pupusas I remember.

Some internet research led me to believe that the difference is made by using instant masa instead of fresh masa.  I don't know of a place to purchase fresh masa and I don't have the equipment or inclination to make it myself.  After some experiments in adding butter and baking power to the dough with the instant masa I got very close to the soft pupusas I enjoyed so much in New York.  I realize this may not be an authentic way to make them, but they taste pretty authentic and delicious!



Difficulty: Difficult
Category: Freezer to Pan
Recipe Column: CJ
Adapted from: food.com

Yields: 39 pupusas

Dough
6 to 7 cups instant masa
4 cups water
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 cups butter, softened

Filling
2 lbs mozzarella, shredded
1 jalepeno, seeds and stem removed and roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeds and stem removed and roughly chopped

To make dough:

1. Combine 6 cups of masa, the water, salt, baking powder and softened butter to make a soft, sticky dough.
2. Once the dough is thoroughly combined, gradually add more masa until the dough is smooth and workable.  It should still be soft.  I had to add about 1/2 cup of masa to my dough to get a good consistency.

To make filling:

1. Place the jalepeno and green bell pepper in a food processor and process until chopped small.
2. Add the shredded cheese to the food processor and process until the peppers are completely incorporated into the cheese and the cheese is chopped small.

To form pupusas (scroll down for photos of this process):

1. Take about 1/4 cup of the dough and form into a ball.
2. Flatten the ball into a cupped disk.  Cup your hand to support the disk.
3. Place a packed ball of about 1 1/2 tbsp of filling into the center of the dough disk.
4. Carefully pull the dough up around the filling and seal it in.  Form a ball.
5. Flatten the ball into a disk slightly thicker than a 1/4 inch.
6. Place the disk on a sheet tray lined with parchment.  You can do up to two layers of pupusas on a pan.  Separate the layers with parchment.

To freeze:

Freeze the pupusas on the sheet tray and then transfer to a bag or container for storage.

To serve:

Melt enough butter to coat the bottom in large frying pan.  Once the butter is hot, add pupusas in a single layer.  Cover with a lid and let cook until brown on the first side.  Flip the pupusas and cover again.  Once they are brown on the second side and the cheese is melted, serve with curtido.

Curtido

Adapted from: food.com

Makes enough to go with 6 pupusas, which serves 2 people

2 cups shredded cabbage

1/4 onion, sliced

1/4 red bell pepper, small diced

1/2 carrot, shredded

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp boiling water

3/4 tsp dry oregano

1 tbsp white vinegar

1. Combine cabbage, onion, pepper,carrot and salt.  Pour the boiling water over the vegetables and let cool to room temperature.
2. Add the oregano and vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  This tastes best if made in advance and allowed to sit and marinade in the fridge for a while.  Sometimes life doesn't work that way though and it still tastes good if it just has enough time to sit while you cook the pupusas.

Photo tutorial of creating the pupusas:

1/4 cup of dough shaped into a ball.

Flatten the ball into a curved disk.  Cup your hand to support the shape of the dough.

1 1/2 tbsp ball of filling placed in the middle of the dough.

Pull the dough up around the filling.

Seal the filling into the dough and shape into a ball.

Flatten the ball into a disk a little thicker than 1/4 inch.