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El Salvador vegan pupusas recipe with refried beans and cheese
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Vegan pupusas with curtido

Course Snack, street food
Cuisine Central American, Latin American
Keyword beans, masa harina, street food

Ingredients

Curtido

  • 300 g green cabbage
  • ½ carrot
  • ¼ onion
  • ½-1 jalapeno
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 200 mL pickling vinegar, 5%
  • 200 mL water
  • 1 tsp salt

Refried beans

  • ½ can black beans
  • 1/4 onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • salt to taste
  • oil for cooking

Pupusas

  • 400 mL masa harina
  • salt to taste
  • 350 mL water
  • oil for frying
  • 3 tbsp shredded vegan cheese

For serving

  • red salsa, homemade or store-bought
  • curtido recipe here

Instructions

Curtido

  • Prepare curtido the day before you plan to make the pupusas.
  • Shred the cabbage and cut the carrots into match sticks. Slice the jalapeno.

Salsa

  • Blend tomatoes, onion, garlic, and chilies until smooth.
  • Heat oil in pot or a pan. Add the blended vegetables and cook for 5-10 minutes. Add salt to taste.
  • Let cool. Can be prepared the day before as well.

Refried beans

  • Blend beans, onion, and garlic with salt. Add water if needed but sparingly.
  • Heat oil in a pan. Cook the bean puré for 10-20 minutes or longer on medium heat. Stir to prevent burning. It should thicken and adopt a texture similar to Play-doh. It will thicken more as it cools.
  • Let the beans cool. The beans can be prepared the day before.

Pupusa dough

  • Prepare the pupusa dough by adding the masa harina and salt to a bowl.
  • Add water, a bit at a time to the masa and work into the flour.
  • Keep adding water to the dough until it adopts a stiff, somewhat sticky texture. To test, you should be able to form the dough into balls that hold their shape and don't all apart. The dough should not stick to your hands.

Make the pupusas

  • Take a bit of dough and form it into a ball.
  • Create an indentation in the ball using your fingers.
  • Add some refried beans and some vegan cheese to the hole.
  • Close the pupusa by working the sides upward into a bowl shape and then closing the bowl. Pinch of any surplus dough.
  • Work the filled pupusa back into a ball shape and then flatten it. You can wet your hands with oil or water to make sure the dough doesn't crack.
  • Fry the pupusa in a lightly oiled pan. A few minutes per side to create a slightly browned surface.
  • Serve the pupusas with curtido and a red salsa of your choice.