On of the advantages of moving to the states, is the plethora of South and Central American Street food, most of which is gluten free!
Arepas are Venezuelan and I remember eating them in Peru. My husband ate them in Boston, from a street vendor and raved about them. My thinking is anything that can be made on the street can’t be too difficult, so I took on the challenge 🙂
It’s a simple recipe, like a basic bread, and just takes a little patience in the cooking stage as they are once cooked and once baked
I tend to cook up a batch and use them just like bread, as either a sandwich or a soaker-upper
De-lish!
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups of lukewarm water (600ml)
- 1 tsp. vegetable oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 cups (250g) pre-cooked white cornmeal (I use PAN-Harisa de Maiz)
(Optional extras: I add a little cheese and chilli flakes into a second batch I made to add a little kick)
Method
- Start with 2.5 cups of warm water
- Add the salt and oil
- Then start pouring in the cornmeal, mixing it in as you go
- I found it easier to use my hands for the dough
- Mix the dough adding flour till you have a bread like dough
- Take enough dough to make a ball in your hand, similar to a small bread roll and then flatten it out (see pictures)
- Place them on a non-stick frying pan on medium head (or add oil if not non-stick)
- Cook them on both sides till you have a little brown crust forming (10 minutes) and then place in the oven to finish them off (10 minutes) to make sure they have baked all the way through
- Serve hot and will a little salted butter
