• Capital: San Salvador
• Population: about 6.4 million
• Area: 21 041 km²
• Currency: US dollars

For my El Salvadoran recipe I made pupusas. Pupusas are small tortilla like flat breads made with masa. They are stuffed with cheese, meat, refried beans and a lot of different of other stuffings. I made mine with cheese and some with refried beans and cheese.

Pupusas and slaw

Ingredients:

For the pupusas:

• 2 cups masa
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup queso fresco
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the slaw:

• 1/2 cabbage
• 4 sprigs cilantro
• 1 lemon
• 1/4 onion
• 1 pinch cumin
• 2 tablespoons crema or sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayo
• 1 pinch red pepper flakkes
• 1 pinch oregano

Directions:

First prepare all your ingredients.

Remove the cilantro leaves from the stems and chop them. Thinly slice the onion and the cabbage. Measure all the spices, the crema and the mayo.

Toss the cabbage, onion, cilantro, oregano, cumin, pepper flakes, mayo, crema and lemon juice together in a bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste and reserve the slaw in the fridge while making the pupusas.

For the pupusas, in a large bowl, add the masa, salt and warm water. Knead the dough until you get something that has a play dough like consistency. If the dough is too dry add some water and add some masa if it’s too sticky.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, divide the dough in 8 equal parts. Roll each part into a ball. With your thumb, poke a hole in the balls and fill the hole with crumbled queso fresco. Wrap the dough around the filling and seal them. Pat the balls down until you reach a disc that is about 1/4 inch thick making sure the filling doesn’t come out.

Heat a cast iron skillet with a little bit of vegetable oil on medium high heat. Cook each disc for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until you see small brown spots on each side.

Serve with the slaw and some freshly cut avocado.

Buen provecho!