Kidney bean pupusas with curtido

Pupusas are the national food of El Salvador. The crispy corn exterior and the gooey bean and cheese filling makes for a perfect companion. I made some cabbage, turnip and radish pickle which is called curtido to go with the pupusas to give it a crunchy and fresh side element.

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 25 minutes
SERVINGS: 2
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Hard

INGREDIENTS: 

For the pupusas covering-

1. Masa harina or maize flour – 1 cup
2. All purpose flour – ¼ cup
3. Warm water – 1 cup
4. Vegetable oil
5. Salt – to taste

For the filling –

6. Onion – 1 small, finely chopped
7. Red kidney beans- ¾ cup, boiled
8. Green Capsicum-1/2, finely chopped
9. Tomatoes – 2 medium, pureed
10. Garlic – 2 cloves
11. Mozzarella Cheese – 1/3 cup, grated
12. Red chilli flakes – 1 teaspoon
13. Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon
14. Dried Herbs – 1 tablespoon
15. Salt – to taste
16. Olive Oil

For the curtido –

9. Cabbage – ½, shredded
10. Radish – 1/2, grated
11. Turnip – 1, grated
12. Carrot – 1/2, grated
13. Lemon juice – ½ lemon
14. Brown sugar – 1 teaspoon
15. Dried herbs – 1 teaspoon
16. Salt – to taste

RECIPE:

1. Take masa harina or maize flour and mix it with all purpose flour. Add salt and knead it with warm water until it turns soft and reaches a nice dough like consistency.
2. Cover it with a film of oil and keep aside.
3. Boil the red kidney beans in a pressure cooker with some salt. Allow the kidney beans to cool.
4. In a pan, add olive oil and finely chopped onions and garlic.
5. Once the onions start to turn translucent, add paste of 2 tomatoes and continue to stir and cook until the tomatoes start to cook.
6. Add the boiled kidney beans to the mix and add salt and the chilli flakes. Remember that the dough has some salt and so do the boiled beans.
7. Add finely diced green capsicum to the pan and start mashing the kidney beans and add the dried herbs and lemon juice.
8. Allow the mixture to cook until it has dried completely. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool.
9. Grate the mozzarella cheese which will be filled in the pupusas.
10. Take the dough and make small balls from it and roll them to make small flat circles of 2 inch in diameter.
11. Take a flat round rolled circle and form a small cavity. Add the beans filling and some mozzarella cheese into the cavity.
12. Take another circle and stick on top and bind the 2 circles to form a pupusa.
13. Repeat this step until all pupusas are ready.
14. Take a non-stick pan and place the pupusas gently. Brush with oil and allow them to cook on each side for 3-4 minutes until they turn golden brown.
15. For the curtido, grate cabbage, radish, carrot and turnip in a salad bowl.
16. In a small bowl, add sugar, lemon juice and salt and mix well.
17. Add this dressing to the salad bowl and add some herbs as well.
18. Let the salad soak in the dressing for 3-4 minutes before serving.
19. Serve the pupusas hot with curtido.