Pupusas are a traditional dish from El Salvador. They can be filled with different ingredients and they are delicious served with curtido.
Pupusas with Curtido from El Salvador
Ingredients
Curtido
- ½ head green cabbage shredded
- 1 carrot shredded
- ¼ teaspoon finely chopped habanero pepper
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper
- Juice of ½ lime
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ¼ cup warm water
Pupusas
- 2 cups masarina or corn flour
- 1 cup warm water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup queso fresco
- ¼ cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup refried beans
- 1 cup cooked chicharrón diced
Instructions
- Combine the masa harina, warm water and salt, mixing thoroughly. Let mixture stand for five minutes.
- Knead with your hands for about 3 minutes, moistening your hands with water as you work.
- Form 8 small balls with the dough. Place each ball between 2 plastic bags and with a flat pot cover, flatten to ½ inch.
- Remove the top plastic of 4 tortillas, sprinkle the cheddar cheese, queso fresco and mozarella cheese over the bottom of each tortilla. Add the refried beans evenly on top of the cheese, then top with chicharron. Top with another tortilla. Press the borders to close the pupusa so the filling does not come out.
- Add the oil to a nonstick pan over medium heat. Place the pupusas in the pan, and cook about 3 minutes on each side, until a crust forms or they are golden brown. Serve warm with curtido.
To make the curtidio:
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl an mix well. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.
Nutrition
My friend Joan from Foodalogue is going on a virtual culinary tour “South of the Border” and the first stop was Mexico, so I joined her with these Chicken Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa.
This week we are going to El Salvador and I am joining her with their national dish, Pupusas. I didn’t know anything about Salvadorian cuisine when Joan announced the itinerary, so I started searching for information about their culture and food. I learned that some Salvadorian dishes are similar to some Colombian traditional dishes. Such similarities can be seen in dishes such as fried cassava and fried sweet plantains.
Pupusas are a thick tortilla made with masa de maiz, which is also used in Mexican tortillas and tamales. Traditionally, pupusas are stuffed with refried beans, Salvadorean cheese, chicharron( fried pork belly), loroco and other fillings like chicken, shrimp and more. They are served with curtido, a cabbage and carrot salad with a vinegar dressing. I made beans and cheese pupusas for my vegetarian husband and I made chicharron, beans and cheese pupusas for myself and they were both delicious with the curtido. I didn’t have Salvadorian cheese, so I used a mix of Queso fresco, mozarella and cheddar cheese.
Cindy
I just discover papusas in the last year at an El Salvadoran market/restaurant. I absolutely love them with beans and cheese or meat and cheese. Your recipe makes it easy to enjoy these any time I want! They rival any I've eaten out. The curdito is bright and crunchy. I also add a little hot sauce on mine along with the curtido because that's how I've eaten them out. Thank you for posting your recipe. I can say from making them, it's a good one!
Linda
What is the recipe to make the pupusas? I don’t see that recipe here.
Erica Dinho
It's fixed.
Kathryn
What is the ratio of flour to water for the pupusas recipe?
Allison Marie
Thanks for sharing! My Salvadoran ex's family made pupusas every weekend, they were delicious. In addition to the encurtido they also served it with salsa roja, a tomato based sauce.