Flour Tortillas

2½ cups flour, plus extra to form tortillas
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp SIDS CRAZY SALT
½ tsp baking powder
⅓ cup shortening or Lard
1 cup hot water

In a large bowl, place the flour, baking powder, salt, SIDS CRAZY SALT then mix. With the help of a fork, pastry blender or your hands, incorporate the shortening or lard until it resembles coarse meal.
Slowly add the hot water, a little at a time, until the dough holds together. Do not add all the water at once.
Turn dough onto a work surface, and knead for a couple of minutes until it is smooth.
Divide the dough into 10 pieces, rolling every piece on your work surface with the palm of your hand to form a little disk. We call these “testales”.
Cover the “Testales” in a damped kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let the dough rest for 30-45 minutes.
After the resting period, place an ungreased frypan over medium heat. Use a rolling pin to start forming the tortillas on a lightly floured surface. If you add too much flour to the surface your tortillas will be dry.
To form the tortillas place the “testal” (ball of dough) onto the working area and press slightly with your hand, set the rolling pin at the centre of the “testal” and press forward without making it to the edge and then press backward towards yourself stopping before the edge. Turn the tortilla 45° and repeat pressing forward and then towards you. Flip the tortilla and repeat the same process until you have a thin disk of about 25 cm. If you are new to rolling tortillas, be patient, it takes a little practice.
Now, place the tortilla on your already hot frypan. This step is a really quick one: be careful with your timing -
a) During the first 20-30 seconds, the tortilla starts forming air bubbles and light brown spots will show at the bottom side of the tortilla.
b) Turn the tortilla, and during the next 20 seconds, more air bubbles will continue to form.
c) Turn again - at this time the tortilla will puff up. This last step will take about 10 seconds. Remove the tortilla and wrap with a kitchen towel. Keep making the rest of the tortillas.
NOTES:
▢ Add the water little by little to form the dough since in humid climates a slightly lesser amount of water will be needed.
▢ Add the baking powder if you live at sea level. You can still make the flour tortillas without the baking powder, maybe they won't puff to much, but they will still come out fine.
▢ The resting period will develop the gluten and forming the tortilla disks will be easier. Do not skip this step.
▢ Your frypan should be hot enough so that when cooking the tortillas the spots are light brown - if they are dark brown too soon then the heat is too high, and if the tortillas take longer to cook then the heat is too low.
▢ To store the tortillas, place them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
▢ To reheat the tortillas, place them in a hot frypan and warm them the same way you cook them, turning twice. The air bubbles will form again but not as big as when they were just cooking.