Step-By-Step Tortillas, Gringita Method

This is the recipe as taught to me by my friend Elvira about fifteen years ago. She learned it from her mother, who most probably learned it from her mother before her. Elvira's tortillas are much bigger than mine. Dut due to the size of my comal -- and due to my general inability to make round tortillas if they get too large -- I make smaller 8 inch ones. This recipes makes 16 tortillas. However, it is very easily divided into half to make a batch of 8 tortillas, which is just right for two people for a few days. The tortillas last only three or four days before getting too hard and dry.

You'll need some basic things:

4 cups of flour
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
4 T shortening
up to 2 cups of warm water

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the shortening. I usually just sift the flour with my fingers until the shortening is blended into pea-size pieces. But you could also use a pastry blender like I have pictured here:

Then add the warm water, starting with a cup a half cup, then adding more as needed. It's better to be too dry and then have to add water, than to be too wet and have to add flour. Wait until you are sure it is not picking up any more of the dry flour before adding more water, and then do it a tablespoon at a time.

How much water? Well, the flour should be completely absorbed into the dough ball, but the dough shouldn't stick to the sides.

I then knead it a bit on the counter until it feels a little elastic-y. Then make a round ball.

And divide that ball into equal pieces by dividing in half, then each half into half again, etc. until you have 16 pieces.

This part is almost impossible to describe, but it's not entirely necessary so don't worry. You shape each piece into a round ball. Then with two hands, holding it like a little steering wheel, you go around the dough, pressing under with your fingers so it becomes concave, like a mushroom cap (or a birth control diaphram).

This is the underside. Elvira taught me this. I don't know for sure what it does, except it may make the dough roll out more evenly. If you don't know what I mean here, then just roll the dough into little round balls. Do them all at once.

Then you are ready to roll out the dough, FIFO-style, first in, first out. Rolling the first ones you shaped into a ball. I roll one direction, then turn the tortilla a quarter turn, and roll and turn again.

When you've rolled the dough until it is just a little larger than your hand, it's just right.

Lay on a pre-heated comal. When the tortilla starts to bubble (about the time it takes to roll the next tortilla, but your mileage may vary), it's ready to flip over. The second side is done in about half the time as the first one (again, ymmv). Even though you are rolling more tortillas, keep an eye on the one cooking because they will burn and when they do, they are inedible and leave black residue on your hot comal which is picked up by the next tortilla.

You can use a spatula to turn the tortillas, but I usually just turn them quickly with the tips of my fingers.

Here they are, stored in the plastic tortilla basket that has a lid. I put the lid on in between adding each tortilla, this keeps them steamed and soft. Every two tortillas, I flip the whole batch over in the basket. This keeps the bottom one from getting soggy with steam.