How to make different colored tortillas?

I’ve never been a huge fan of Mexican food but will never say no to a nacho or two.  To me all Mexican food I tried seemed like a variation on the same thing.  But then again, I’ve never been to Mexico and eventually came to conclusion, perhaps I haven’t had “real, authentic” Mexican food.  I decided I would start by trying to make my own tortillas and see if that helped me enjoy Mexican food a bit more.  Below are four recipes for different colored tortillas. These include a flour tortilla recipe and then three alternatives, sweet potato, black bean and spinach tortilla recipe.  It occurred to me while putting this post together, I didn’t try making a corn flour tortilla.  That will definitely be on my list of recipes to try.  What exactly is a tortilla?

The word tortilla itself is Spanish for small cake.  It is a flat bread and variation on the corn tortilla which I have yet to try making.  It seems like the first tortillas were made 10 000 BC of dried kernels of maize.  These were made by the Aztecs in Mesoamerica.  Chapatis made in South Asia are similar.  Every country and region of the world seem to have a similar form of flat bread. But that’s another post. [4]   The corn tortillas were first made in the Americans and are still very popular in Mexico and Central America. There was no wheat grown in this region prior to Europeans arriving.  As a result, corn was a main staple in the diet.  It was eaten raw from the cob but in many cases dried, stored for later and ground into corn meal and then later into masa. [5, 6]  White flour tortillas became more popular in the northern parts of Mexico and now commonly used to prepare dishes such as burritos.

Below I have only tried three different colored tortillas or variations on the original corn flour tortilla but there are others that I found during my search. There is the cauliflower tortilla and beet root tortilla.  Cassava was an option mentioned in one of the notes for a gluten free version.

Flour tortilla from scratch recipe [1]

Ingredients:

• 3c all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 c vegetable oil, shortening or lard
• 1 c hot water

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder. 
2. Whisk to combine then add the vegetable oil. 
3. Still until the mixture resembles crumbs.
4. Pour in warm water and stir to combine. 
5. Kneed briefly on floured board with hands until the mixture combines into a dough.
6. Divide the dough into 16 equal balls and gently flatten.
7. Cover flattened balls of dough with a kitchen towel and let rest for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.
8. Warm a large frying pan or skillet to medium-high heat
9. Flour a counter and roll out the flattened balls into circles of about 6 inches in diameter.
10. Cook tortillas in heated pan for about 1 minutes on each side or until small bubbles form on the top.  Flip and cook the other side.
11. Remove and stack cooked tortillas, wrapped in a kitchen towel.
12. Serve immediately or cool for use later.

Recipe notes:

• When  storing tortillas in the freezer, separate each by parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Sweet potato tortilla recipe [2]

Ingredients:

• ¾ c mashed sweet potato
• 1 c all purpose flour

Directions:

1. Boil or microwave sweet potatoes until soft. 
2. Mash cooled sweet potatoes.
3. Add in the flower and stir until well combined.
4. Use hands to form a dough ball.  Add flour until dough ball is not sticky.
5. Separate dough ball into 5 equal parts.
6. Dust working surface with flour and roll out each tortilla with a rolling pin until about ½ cm thick.
7. Place the tortillas in a hot pan over medium-high heat. Cook for 1 minute on each side.
8. Stack the cooked tortillas on a plate covered with a clean kitchen towel while cooking the rest.

Recipe notes:

• Don’t roll out the tortillas too thin before cooking otherwise the cooked tortilla will not be flexible.
• Covering the cooked tortillas with a kitchen towel keeps the moisture in and all the tortillas to stay soft and flexible.
• For a gluten free version use cassava.

Black bean tortillas recipe (grain free, vegan) [3]

Ingredients:

• 1c dry black beans
• 3.5 c water
• ¼ tsp salt

Directions:

1. Mix rinse beans in about 2 cups of water and cover. 
2. Let stand at room temperature for at least 12 hours or over night. 
3. Drain and rinse the beans.
4. Add the drained, soaked beans with the remaining 1.5c of water and salt in a blender.
5. Blend on high until completely smooth and no tiny bumps.  The batter will look like cement.
6. Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium heat.
7. Add 1/3 c of batter in the centre of the pan.  Allow 5-10 seconds then use a metal spoon to spread the batter around into 6-7 inch circle.
8. Cook about 2-2.5 minutes until the surface looks dry.  Slide the spatula underneath and flip. 
9. Cook about 1 minute longer the on the second side.
10. Remove and cool completely.
11. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Recipe notes:

• This tortilla recipe won’t work if you use canned beans.  I think this and it was so frustrating.  I ended up having to add flour.  Instead, used dried beans in a packet.  This is why the rinsing and soaking overnight is important.
• When frying the tortillas, on the first side if you can’t slide your spatula under the tortilla, then the tortilla’s first side hasn’t cooked and set enough yet.  So leave it longer until set.  Lower the temperature the better otherwise you’ll ending up burning the tortilla before you can flip it.  Medium heat is good but play around the heat to find what works best for you.
• Store the tortillas covered at room temperature for a day, covered in a container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 6 months.

Spinach tortilla recipe [7]

Ingredients:

• 3 c boilng water
• 6 c spinach lightly packes
• 3 c all purpose flour
• 3 tsp butter (or olive oil)
• 1.5 tsp salt
• ¼ c water (more if needed)

Directions:

1. Pour the boiling water over the spinach.
2. When the spinach is bright green and wilted, drain the water.
3. Add the flour, salt and butter to the food processor and pulse until combined.
4. Add the spinach and process until fully combined.
5. Add the water and process until the dough is combined.
6. Adjust the flour and water as necessary until the dough is no longer crumbly or sticky.
7. Remove dough and knead for 30 seconds until smooth.
8. Cover and let dough stand for 20 minutes.
9. Divide dough into 10 balls, flattened into disks.
10. Roll each dough out into a thin round circle about 8 inches in diameter.
11. Heat a dry skillet, frying pan to medium heat.
12. Cook each tortilla for about 30 seconds on first side then 15-30 seconds on the other side until cooked through.  (This is usually when there are light brown spots on the second side.)
13. Place cooked tortilla on a plate, covered with a dish cloth.
14. Serve immediately or cool then serve or warm up before serving.

Recipe notes:

• The notes with regards to storage and frying as for the other tortillas apply here.  Covering freshly cooked tortillas seems to keep them soft and flexible.  One thing to note, is that the modifications, except for the black bean tortilla, are all variations on the flour based tortilla.

More different colored tortillas

Corn flour tortillas are not a variation, but definitely something I need to try and make and definitely worth including in any tortilla recipe repertoire.  However, I have seen other different colored tortillas that are variations of the original that look interesting but also tasty.  There are the tortillas where you add in a vegetable like beets, kale, zucchini, carrots, or cilantro. Then there are the tortillas where you add in spices like turmeric, paprika and chili powder. Then there is adding in or using other grains or pulses like lentils.  So many variations.  Just walking down the produce aisle could spark all kinds of creative variations and a new set of different colored tortillas.  I’m wondering if squashes could be included into the tortilla dough?  Squashes like butternut, acorn, pumpkin, spaghetti squash?  What about a garlic or onion tortilla?  

Tea pairings

I’m not sure if I’d eat tortillas plain on their own.  Usually eat tortillas as a side or accompanied by other main, staring ingredients, such as beef or chicken.  That is where I think the pairing of tea would come in, with that main, staring ingredient.

Note

I’m no cook, chef, baker or tea somelier. So everything I make and suggest is based on the enjoyment of creating something new, cooking, baking and especially trying tea!  I hope you enjoy the recipes and suggestions, both making them and the trying the results!

References

1. Easy Flour Tortillas from Scratch, Monica, March 2017, Nourish and Fete, URL: https://www.nourish-and-fete.com/easy-flour-tortillas-from-scratch/
2. Vegan Sweet Potato Tortillas | 2 Ingredients, Oil-Free, Blooming Nolwenn, June 2018, Blooming Nolwenn, URL: https://bloomingnolwenn.com/vegan-sweet-potato-tortillas/
3. 1-Ingredient black bean tortillas {grain-free, oil-free, vegan}, Camilla, July 2018, Power Hungry, URL: https://powerhungry.com/2018/07/1-ingredient-black-bean-tortillas-grain-free-vegan/
4. Origin and History of the Tortilla, History of Bread, URL: http://www.historyofbread.com/bread-history/history-of-tortilla/
5. Tortilla, Wikipedia, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortilla
6. Wheat Tortillas, Wikipedia, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_tortilla
7. Easy Spinach Tortillas, Sonja and Alex Overhisera, A couple of cooks, URL:https://www.acouplecooks.com/homemade-spinach-tortillas/

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Lani and Norm

I enjoy learning and sharing that knowledge.Sharing has been in many forms over the years, as a teaching assistant, university lecturer, Pilates instructor, math tutor and just sharing with friends and family.Throughout, summarizing what I have learnt in words has always been there and continues to through blog posts, articles, video and the ever growing forms of content out there!

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