Mexican food is SO good. For Peas, growing up in Australia meant a lot of friends didn’t know this tasty cuisine so everyone came along to Sunday burritos at our house at some point. Now Beans and I still love them and while tortillas are easy to buy in most stores, it scares us how long they last and there is nothing like a freshly made tortilla. We feel ashamed for not making them sooner. The authentic way was to use lard, but vegetable shortening or oil is completely acceptable.
Makes about 12 tortillas (depending on size)
- 3 c all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 c vegetable shortening or veggie oil (or lard)
- 1 c warm water (must be warm, but not boiling)
In a bowl rub the shortening into the flour, salt and baking powder, until it resembles breadcrumbs (like when you make a pie crust or scones). Then stir in the water slowly with a fork or use your hands and mix the dough together until it’s smooth. About 3 – 5 minutes. Now set aside the dough to rest for about 20 minutes.
Separate the dough into small balls, about 1 in or a little larger and with a rolling pin, roll out round as thin as possible. (A good way is to roll out into an oval, then turn 45ยบ and roll again etc- nice and round).
After all your tortillas are rolled out, place the first one in a preheated skillet or heavy based pan on medium high heat. In about 30 seconds to 1 minute little blisters should appear, flip the tortilla as many times a s you need, until the blisters brown. Continue with all your tortillas and, if possible, serve immediately. Otherwise they do keep in the fridge for about a week or freeze them for a month or so.
Family recipe.
