other

gorditas & salsa

servings
16

method

Gordita means ‘little fat girl’ in Spanish and is meant as a sort of cute, cuddly term of endearment. It’s also the name for these sweet little puffy tortillas, which are often made around Easter and other special occasions. Look at the gorditas as a tasty spoon for carrying all kinds of big exciting flavours. Mexicans put all sorts of things, from beans, to meat, to salsa, on them. I’ve gone for quite a delicious and delicate apple salsa here – give it a try.

Put the cornmeal and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Mix the baking powder into the hot water and pour this into the well. Using a fork, mix the cornmeal into the liquid, and when it starts to come together use your hands to knead it. Divide the dough into 16 equal squash-ball-sized pieces and dust them lightly with flour. Roll each piece around in your hands, then pat and flatten into a small round roughly the size of the base of a wine glass. Put these on an oiled tray, dust with flour and put aside while you make your salsa.

Finely chop your apple, tomatoes and spring onions, and finely slice your chilli. Put them all into a bowl. Pick the leaves from your coriander and put them into a bowl of water until you’re ready to serve. Chop the coriander stalks up nice and finely and add to the bowl with the other salsa ingredients. Put a large pan on a medium heat and add your pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Toss them around for a few minutes and toast them. Add them to your salsa with the juice of your lime, a good lug of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well, then have a taste and add a little more seasoning, lime juice or chili if you think it needs more attitude. Put the pan back on a medium heat and add a couple of good lugs of olive oil. Cook as many gorditas as will comfortably fit into the pan for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until they’re golden and puff up a little.

Serve the gorditas warm out of the pan with a tablespoon of your beautiful salsa, a little hunk of cheese, a couple of your drained coriander leaves and a few slices of chilli, if you fancy, and with lime wedges on the side for squeezing over.

Wine suggestion:
French dry white – a Gewürztraminer from Alsace

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ingredients

For the gorditas:
• 500g fine cornmeal or masa harina (which is similar)
• ½ level teaspoon sea salt
• 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
• 700ml hot water
plain flour, for dusting
• olive oil

For the salsa:
• 1 red apple, halved and cored
• 3 large, ripe tomatoes, quartered and deseeded
• 2 spring onions, trimmed
• 1 red chilli, deseeded
• a small bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
• 1 lime
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
• 200g Don Francisco Mexican cheese, or feta (which is similar)
• optional: 1 fresh red chilli, very finely sliced
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by Heather on Sun 07 Aug 2011 @ 09:22

Can you use Polenta to make these? The shop only had course Cornmeal so I thought of using Polenta instead. Otherwise could I use course Polenta? Thanks

2. by Leila from Denm on Fri 07 May 2010 @ 16:41

No wonder the recipe didn't work. Masa harina cannot be substituted with Corn meal. MH is made from corn (maize) which has been treated with lye = A strong caustic alkaline solution of potassium salts,
obtained by leaching wood ashes. It is much used in making
soap, etc. There is no substitute - you will have to get the real thing.

3. by Dave on Sat 03 Apr 2010 @ 23:09

This recipe just didn't work for me either. The proportions for the tortillas didn't work. Ended up adding twice as much cornmeal then egg to try to get them to hold together. In the end the whole mixture ended up in the bin. First JO meal that hasn't worked for me since May 5 2009 and I've cooked everyday since then out of the Ministry of Food cookbook!

Salsa was great though!

4. by Michelle on Sat 26 Sep 2009 @ 13:59

Has anyone tried these? I bought the cornmeal from Tesco - but when I tried to make it with the quantities above the batter did not become a dough and I wasn't able to roll at all. Am I using the right type of cornmeal? Is there a brand I should use and where can I get it?

Thanks

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