Homemade Corn Tortillas Recipe: Soft Flatbreads in a Dry Pan

Step-by-step recipe

1. The amounts are very approximate, just to show the proportions. Usually up to 1 kg of flour is used.
2. Corn flour is rarely used in our traditional cooking, but you can find it in stores. It is usually not as finely ground as regular wheat flour and looks more like bran, with a pleasant pale yellow color. Go for a finer grind.
   
3. Sift 1 cup (a 200 ml glass) of corn flour into a large bowl. Corn flour is much less sticky than wheat flour, so if you have never baked with it, add 0.5 cup of regular wheat flour. The wheat flour gives you a head start when rolling out the tortillas, and they won't fall apart.
   
4. Add 0.5 tsp of fine “extra” salt to the flour. Stir the flour and salt thoroughly so the mixture is as even as possible.
5. Pour 120 ml of warm water (35-40 °C) into a glass. Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and whisk with a fork. Pour the liquid into the flour and knead the dough. The dough will most likely be a little runny, so add corn flour in small portions until you get a very soft dough.
   
6. Roll the dough into a ball, cover with a cloth and let it rest for 30 mins at room temperature.
   
7. You will get about 350 g of dough. That is enough for 6 tortillas: divide the dough into 6 pieces and roll them into balls.
   
8. Put a frying pan on the heat. The pan must be dry, so no oil. A crepe pan works very well, by the way.
9. Next you will need plastic wrap or an ordinary plastic bag.
10. Place a ball of dough on a piece of plastic and press it flat with your palm into a round. Cover the dough with a second piece of plastic and roll it out between the two layers with a rolling pin into a round flatbread 15 cm across, roughly the size of a CD.
    
11. Peel off the top sheet of plastic, flip the tortilla onto your palm and peel off the bottom sheet. Then carefully lay the tortilla in the hot, dry (!) pan.
12. Bake for 1.5-2 mins on each side. The edges may curl up a little, which is fine. A little puffing is fine too. The tortilla will turn a deep yellow and cook through nicely.
    
13. Stack the finished tortillas on top of each other and cover with a cloth to cool. If they are not overbaked, tortillas bend easily and fold in half.
    
14. Then, without delay, let your imagination run and make a filling of meat, vegetables, chicken, peppers, herbs and garlic. Spoon on the filling and add some fiery salsa. Fold the tortillas in half and enjoy.
    
15. Many will also like making nachos (corn chips), which takes just 10 mins. Simply cut the finished tortillas into 6-8 wedges, like a pizza, and fry them in hot vegetable oil for 1-2 mins. Then put the chips on a paper towel to drain off the excess oil. The chips are especially good with guacamole.