I like corn tortillas and am also intrigued by various types of flatbreads that are staples in the Middle East and in Indian food. It is a complicated mix of formulating the right dough, having the right flour, the appropriate heat, and the cooking surface. Although I would have preferred to have tried my experiment using a gas stove, that choice was not available. The electric stove top is a big pain--regulating the heat and not banging an iron pan on the glass surface are distractions.
My basic corn tortilla recipe is taken from the packaging for corn masa flour:
- 2 cups corn masa flour (see modification below)
- 1 ⅓ cups water (hot water- 180℉)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder (my modification)
The cooking surface is a griddle, comal or tawa chapati pan. My pan is flat steel with a handle that is riveted to the cooking surface. Presently, I am using a steel cooling rack to keep the flat pan off of the glass surface of the electric stove.
My modification - the recipe hack
In my experiment, I substituted finely ground sorghum flour (Indian jowar flour) for half of the corn masa, making the mix a 50/50 combination. Again, the water was very hot and I mixed the wet dough using a silicon spatula that I grasped near the mixing paddle so I could exert maximum force on the steaming dough.
The dough balls were about the size of a small lemon or cutie-type tangerine. The dough was placed between two sheets of parchment paper, pressed gently by hand into a roundish shape and pressed more firmly using a flat-bottomed plate. The dough has a tendency to stick, so I peeled one side of the parchment paper. Then, I rotated the wet tortilla so the second side could be peeled. Using the parchment paper in the palm of my hand, the moist tortilla was gently laid onto the hot griddle (not slapped). Remember to rotate the wrist and gently lay the tender tortilla on the griddle. The parchment paper will release from the top of the tortilla. The first surface cooked about a minute and during that time I teased it with a thin metal spatula to release the tortilla from the hot surface. When I could scoot the tortilla around the surface, it was flipped to cook the second side. Sometimes several back and forth flips may be necessary to get an even bake and small charred or toasted areas. The tortillas were accumulated in a foil pouch and kept lightly covered while the remainder of the batch was cooked.
These flatbreads are not intended to puff up like a roti bread but are supposed to be flat like a pancake. They are the flat surface on which a scramble egg, avocado or other ingredients are layered. My flatbreads were firm enough to pickup and did not crumble. The color was a pleasing golden brown.
Half of the dough was retained and refrigerated over-night. The dough was covered tightly in plastic wrap and was moist and workable. A wet hand may be sufficient to rehydrate the dough on the second day, if it feels dry and gritty. The day-old dough also worked fine making flat breads.
I may add a tablespoon of oil to see if I can get a little more pliability. In any case, the recipe worked just fine.
That is all. [[end]]
Update for the second batch, I drizzled some peanut oil on the flour before the hot water and added a 1/4-tsp of Tajin lemon chili spice to the masa/sorghum flour. Before I pressed the dough ball, I lightly dusted the bottom parchment paper with dry corn masa flour. The tortilla released easier from the parchment and did not stick to the griddle pan. With the flat tortilla (tostada), I smeared guacamole dip, an egg sunny side up, and hot sauce. I call it success when I can pick up that many moist products and not have it crumble in my hand. :)
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