Carrot and toasted coriander seed tortillas

Making tortillas at home has become very important for me and my family, they form a big part of Mexican culture and you cannot go anywhere without being offered a basket of warm tortillas to accompany your food.

Living abroad, not only have I discovered how easy they are to make at home but how its possible to create different flavours of tortillas that can transform certain dishes. This is one of my favourite recipes which combines the nutty flavour of toasted coriander seeds with the slight sweetness from carrot pulp and juice to give an amazing colour and subtleness - plus a little kick from the chilli.

Tortillas are the perfect compliment to any dish not just tacos. Very often we would roll a tortilla with the palm of our hands and eat it alongside a bowl of homemade soup or they would serve as breakfast with a slice of cheese to make quesadillas. We would also cut them in triangles and shallow fried to make chilaquiles or cut into strips for tortilla soup. And did I mentioned that they are naturally gluten free, low in fat and calories !

Makes 20 small tortillas.

Ingredients:

2 cups of corn flour.

1 tsp sea salt.

2-3 carrots juiced:

1/2 cup carrot juice.

1/3 cup carrot pulp.

1 tsp coriander seeds (toasted and roughly grind in pestle and mortar).

1 dried hot chilli 

3/4 cup of hot boiling water.

Method

In a medium bowl add the corn flour, salt, carrot juice and pulp, ground coriander seeds and chilies, mix with a wooden spoon and then add half of your water, integrate the mixture and then add other half of your water, stir and once is manageable place the masa over your kitchen surface.

Work your masa with your hands briefly just to integrate well all the ingredients; check the consistency, it should be a moist masa to touch but not sticky. If your masa is too sticky add a bit more corn flour or if it’s too dry add a little water.

Warm up your comal or non stick pan, on medium high heat.

Get your tortilla press ready and two pieces of plastic film to avoid the masa from sticking to the press. I do this with a medium size ziplock bag and I cut all the sides until I’m left with the two pieces of plastic film.

Get your masa and form a ball with the palm of your hands, place it in the middle of the press and on top the plastic film, put the other film on top and press your masa down, remove the tortilla from the press and the plastic film carefully, then they go straight into the hot pan a few seconds on each side and repeat the same procedure with the rest of your masa.

Once ready keep them warm by covering them with a tea towel and inside a tortilla basket, serve warm.