Indian Corn Tortillas.Garden to Plate.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?HPVDY 19 October 2014 Indian Corn Tortillas.Garden to Plate.
Indian corn from my garden was made into tortillas. The corn was dried on the cob, shelled by hand with the aid of a simple tool,, nixtamalized by boiling for 20 minutes then soaking in calcium hydroxide and water for 36 hours.The nixtamalized corn is then agitated by hand rubbing to remove the skins, I use a large whisk to assist. The nixtamal, now the name, is rinsed several times with water until clear. The nixtamal is now ready to wet grind into masa, which is the dough for making tortillas. Grinding wet can be a problem, since few home grinders can grind wet corn. I have found that my Bamix hand blender does a reasonable job with q bit of time and effort. The alternative is to dry the corn in a dehydrator and grind in a blender, which takes much time and is an extra step. Some whole wheat flour is added to my masa to make the right texture also to add some gluten to make the dough more coherent. This probably enhances the tortilla flavour somewhat. The dough is then made into balls about the size of a golf ball,hand pressed into flat sort of pancakes, cooked in a cast iron fry pan. I also place in the microwave for about one minute to inflate the tortilla then place in a closed plastic container for storage in the refrigerator until required. Pictures depict the process.