Colombian Arepas

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups warm water
• 1/2 heaped tsp sea salt
• 2 cups masa harina

Instructions

• Add the 2 cups of masa harina and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a mixing bowl.
• Add one cup of the warm water and stir until all of the water is absorbed.  It will look like this:

• Now start adding the rest of the warm water incrementally, a couple tablespoons at a time, and stirring regularly. The idea is to keep adding water until the flour bits meld into a dough.  At that point you can pick it up with your hands and knead it together. Eventually it will look like this:

• Next, we’ll separate the dough into golf ball sized chunks, rolling between the hands to form a smooth ball.  This will make the tortillas about 4 inches across.
• We need something to put on either side of the dough ball to prevent it from sticking when flattening.  You can use plastic wrap, but I’ve found that cutting a large Ziploc bag into halves works best.
• We need something to put on either side of the dough ball to prevent it from sticking when flattening.  You can use plastic wrap, but I’ve found that cutting a large Ziploc bag into halves works best:
  

• Flatten the dough balls using a tortilla press or a flat bottomed pan. Be sure to line each side of the dough ball with plastic or ziploc pieces.
• Heat a skillet or comal to medium-high heat.
• Add a tortilla and flip after 10 seconds. Then cook each side for 1-2 minutes or until light brown spots are forming.