Pupusas

Our cooking group was hosted by a great neighbor and her friend, who are from El Salvador. We had lots of bean soups and made pupusas (pooh-pooh-suhs), or as my dinner guests preferred to call them, papusas. Evidently these are practically a national food in El Salvador. My hubby said it was one of the most 'natural' tasting meals he'd had, and meant that as a big compliment. I felt like I'd been in the kitchen all day because of the prep work and the beans, but everything could be made in advance and these could be put together very quickly.

3 c. Masa flour
2-3 c. water

Mix flour and water in a bowl.
The 'dough' should be firm and able to be handled. If you make a ball and flatten it and it cracks, add more water. If it is gooey, add more flour. There are general measurements on the back of the package, but ours needed more water.

Grab a handful of the dough. Flatten it in the palm of your hand so it looks like a pancake (about 1/3-1/2 inch thick).
In the center of the dough, put a pinch of shredded pork, some refried beans and some shredded cheese (we used pepper jack and mozzarella).
DO NOT FILL TOO FULL - you will need almost an inch border all the way around. Cup your hand with the pupusa in it and fold the edges in to the center to create a sealed ball. Keep a bowl of water handy to use as glue to seal any cracks. Once you have a ball formed, flatten it out to a disc.
It will be about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Lay on griddle (we did ours over medium heat). It will take about 5 minutes on each side, turn once. Since everything is cooked, you are really just cooking the 'tortilla'.
To serve: Lay pupusa on a plate. Cover with pepper sauce, sour cream (thin with a little whipping cream), cilantro, cheese or any other toppings you like. We had a side of rice and beans.
The verdict: these are fun to make and a different cultural food. According to wikipedia, November 15 is National Pupusa Day, so we'll probably have these again and I think you should too.