Homemade Tortillas

I didn’t start making my own tortillas until I moved to Germany.
It was more or less out of sheer necessity.
You see, Germans don’t really cook or eat Mexican food.
One of my best friends in Munich, Peteski, hails from Texas. This recipe comes from Peteski, and every time I make a batch I am taken back to the funky 1950s WWII era student dorms that we resided in.

During our 9-week break between winter and summer semesters, we decided we NEEDED a Mexican feast. We spent a few hours scouring German grocery stores for all the ingredients we needed. We were able to find black beans and hot sauce at an Asian market and avocados, onions, tomatoes, and garlic at our regular stomping grounds, Marktkauf.

We spent all day soaking black beans, making tortillas and guacamole. Everything came together beautifully and we were beside ourselves with joy. The best part of the meal? Teaching some of my floor mates how to make a burrito. I’ve never seen such confusion; Germans are all about rules and efficiency, not to say that is a bad thing, but it was difficult for them to grasp the idea of making a burrito with any of the ingredients that they wanted.

I’d say it was successful for all parties involved.

::: Ingredients :::

— 3 cups flour

— 1 ¼ cup water

— ½ tsp. salt

— dash of olive oil

::: Directions :::

>> Mix together the flour and the salt in a medium bowl.

>>  Add the water slowly to the dry ingredients, mixing as you go, until the dough is soft and no longer sticky. Remember, you can adjust the amount of flour and water if need be. More flour if it’s too sticky for example.

>> Knead the dough until smooth. Place in a pre-olive oiled bowl and allow to rest for a little while. No exact time, just enough to rest.

>> Separate dough into golf ball sized balls.

>> Lightly flour a surface and rolling pin to roll out the tortillas on, either a big cutting board or counter top.

>> Roll out the balls until they are fairly thin.

>> Heat up a pan on medium heat. The first couple of tortillas will take a little longer to cook than the rest when the pan is fully heated.

>> Cook tortillas for a minute or two on each side, just until you have some brown spots.

You can store tortillas in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for a few days. They make delicious burritos, quesadillas, and you can even cut into triangles and bake to make your own tortilla chips.

Guten Appetit!