by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: December 29, 2009

How to make homemade flour tortillas is a fairly simple and quick procedure. There are few ingredients, which do not require complex combining, and the significant points which one should watch out for are how the tortillas are rolled and the type of pan in which one attempts to cook them.

The ingredients required in order to make around eight homemade flour tortillas are simply as follows: half a pound of plain or all-purpose flour, one teaspoon of baking powder, a generous pinch of salt, two teaspoons of vegetable oil and six fluid ounces of water.

The first step in making these homemade flour tortillas is to heat the water in a saucepan or pot until it is lukewarm. The flour should then be sieved in to a large basin or bowl and the salt and baking powder stirred in. A well should then be formed in the centre of the dry mixture of ingredients and the vegetable oil and water slowly poured in to the well in three or four stages, mixing constantly, until a dough is formed. The dough should not be too sticky, so it is possible that not all of the water will be required.

When the dough is formed, it should be kneaded carefully and patiently for four to five minutes on a clean, dry surface such as a wooden chopping board, before being returned to the bowl, covered and left for fifteen to twenty minutes. This is not to allow the dough to rise as may be the case when making bread; it is simply to allow it to rest following the kneading process.

While the dough for the homemade flour tortillas is resting, an area should be prepared for rolling out the tortillas. The wooden chopping board used for kneading the dough is ideal and this should be very lightly dusted with some more flour. It is vital not to include too much flour at this point as it will transfer to the tortillas and serve to dry out the dough. It is also a good idea to lightly flour the rolling-pin which is to be used.

The best type of pan in which to cook homemade flour tortillas is a large, cast iron skillet or close equivalent. A little vegetable oil should be added to this, which should be brought up to a medium to high heat, prior to adding the first tortilla.

The tortilla dough should be separated in to eight equal sized pieces and the first piece formed in to a ball before being rolled out on the chopping board. It will be extremely unlikely that the dough can be rolled in to a perfect circle, but if desired, a plate or similar sized template may be used in order to cut away a little excess dough and improve the final presentation.

The homemade tortillas should then be fried for around a minute each side in the skillet until lightly browned, each one kept warm in some aluminium foil as it removed from the pan to allow for simultaneous service.

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