Making tortillas

The last time I made tortillas, I thought to myself, "I really must put this recipe on my blog." So many people are so used to buying things pre-made that they think making it from scratch is hard or too much bother. Tortillas are really easy, but you need to reserve a block of time when you won't be interrupted, as you'll be rolling out and flipping tortillas every minute or so.


I know there are many brands of tortillas available in the stores, but I have found no wheat tortillas that are just the basic ingredients. They have the omnipresent whey or "mono- and diglycerides" in them and who knows where those come from!


This recipe will make 8 large tortillas. You'll need a large frying pan. If you only have a small pan, cut the dough into twice as many pieces, but bear in mind you'll be standing there for twice as long! Good if it's winter and you want to keep warm, but not if it's high summer and you're already too hot.


You'll need:

4 cups whole spelt flour (or other wholegrain flour - no white or bleached please =P )
half a teaspoon good salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon lime juice
about a cup and a half of water
extra flour for dusting the countertop for rolling out

Mix the flour, salt and baking soda together in a bowl.
Mix the lime juice and water in a jug.
Add the liquid to the flour, but don't just dump it all in at once - you want the dough to be just right, not too crumbly, not too sticky. Add more water if necessary, and if you add too much, put a little more flour in.
Knead the dough lightly for a minute, then form it into a ball. Cut it into 8 pieces - the easiest way is to cut the ball in half one way, then in half crosswise, then cut each quarter into two.
Preheat your frying pan. No need to oil it. Out of a possible 9 settings, I use #5. Hotter than medium but not burning hot.
Sprinkle some flour on your work surface - be generous - and roll out the first dough ball as thin as you can make it. (I used to roll out a few at a time ready for cooking, but now I prefer to do them singly so they don't get a chance to dry out or stick to the counter.)
Once the pan seems hot, put in the first tortilla. Immediately roll out the second. After about a minute, you will see bubbles appearing on top of the tortilla in the pan. This is good - flip it over. After about another minute, peek underneath and the bottom should have browned. Whip it out and place it on a wire rack, and put the next one in. Roll out the third.
And so on, until there's none left.

These really are best eaten fresh and warm, though they can be reheated in a dry frying pan later on. I just made a batch of these and plan to make an "alkalising pizza" for dinner. A tortilla topped with hummus, fresh tomatoes, onions, olives and herbs. Very quick and needs no extra cooking. Or make a wrap with lots of fresh vegetables.