Gorditas



The first time I had a gordita I was seventeen and starving after a lengthy bus trip through Central Mexico. It was my first trip on my own outside of Canada. My travel mate Katherine seemed to have no appetite, forcing me to grab at food as we passed by taco stands. For the most part I was ok with it, since I had always loved tacos.

Heading towards San Luis Potosi on a dusty old bus, Katherine announced, "oh you'll be happy here, we can have gorditas!" I was just happy Katherine had showed some interest in food.

Gorditas are similar to dumplings. Made from masa harina (corn flour softened with lye to release the niacin in the kernel) and stuffed with a savoury filling and fried. The one I was served on this monumental day was filled with potato and sausage. Fatty and doughy with the full flavour of sausage - I was in heaven. It was the only thing that got me through a nasty case of food poisoning a week later caused by the worst bowl of spaghetti I've ever eaten - noodles tossed with pink (tomato and chicken) bouillon cubes and garnished with ketchup. I still shudder to think about it. 

Note:
Gorditas are named after a familiar term to describe rolly-polly people - it means little fatty.

Ingredients

Dough
3 c masa harina (or sub 2 c. all purpose flour and 1 c. corn meal)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp veg oil
1 c. of water

Filling
1/2 c. onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 c. chorizo sausage, chopped 1/4"
1.5 c. potato, boiled and chopped
1 Tbsp veg oil
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp cumin seeds

Oil for frying

To make dough:
Combine dry ingredients and mix. Add oil and combine with your fingers. Make a well in the centre and slowly add water. Form into a ball and knead for approx. 5 min. Let the dough rest for 10 min.

To make filling:
Heat a saute pan to med-high. Add vegetable oil and when it's hot add onions and garlic. When the onions and garlic have become translucent add the sausage, pepper and cumin. Saute until the sausage is a little bit crispy. Add the potato and stir. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

To assemble:
Cut the dough into approx 16 even pieces. Roll the pieces out into rounds. Fill each round with approx 1/4 c of the filling. Fold in half and press the pastry flat, allowing the dough to slightly adhere, but remain open at the top. Repeat until all the dough/filling is used.

Heat about 1/2" of oil in a frying pan. When it's hot, fry the pastries until golden brown and drain on paper towel.

Serve hot with chilli sauce and sour cream if you wish.