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Kohlrabi, radish and avocado “ceviche” on corn tortillas

I recently took the plunge and bought a tortilla press. I’m so annoyed with myself that I didn’t do it sooner… I LOVE fresh home-made tortillas. They are super versatile, taste amazing and are gluten-free. The only hassle in the UK is finding the masa harina*, but these days many online stores carry this flour. If you can’t be bothered making them yourself (you could use two heavy frying pans to press them), you can just as easily buy them ready made. The zesty kohlrabi and avocado “ceviche” is a delicious topping, but there are so many other options like Korean BBQ chicken or tofu with sautéed veggies and spicy chimichurri dressing.

*Masa harina is a very finely ground corn flour made from corn (usually white, but can also be blue corn) that’s dried, cooked in water with slaked lime (which gives it a distinctive flavour and increases its calcium content), ground, and dried again. Mixed with water (or sometimes oil), it forms the dough called “masa” that is used to make corn tortillas.

Kohlrabi ceviche

Kohlrabi, radish and avocado “ceviche” on corn tortillas

Makes 16 tortillas

Ingredients for the tortillas

2 cups masa harina

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup hot water

Ingredients for the dressing 

15ml (1 Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil

1 small or 1/2 large red onion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 – 2 medium hot red chillies, finely chopped (deseed first if you prefer less heat)

small knob ginger, roughly chopped

small handful fresh coriander, finely chopped 

125ml (1/2 cup) lime juice (about 5 – 7 limes),  plus extra to taste

Ingredients to serve

1 kohlrabi, cut into julienne

1 large apple, cut into julienne

handful of radishes, cut into julienne 

1 large ripe avocado, sliced

masa tortillas or tostada (toasted tortillas)

Method

  1. For the tortillas: in a bowl mix the masa harina, salt and 1 cup of hot water with a spoon. Now incrementally add the rest of the warm water a tablespoon at a time until you can form a soft dough ball with your hands. You may not need all the water. If the dough isn’t forming a cohesive ball, add a bit more water. But I have found that a too wet or sticky dough doesn’t make for a good tortilla, so rather err on the dry side.
  2. Now pinch off golf ball sized chunks of dough, rolling each between your hands to form a smooth ball.  Press them between two pieces of parchment paper in your tortilla press, between two heavy skillets or with a glass baking dish on your kitchen counter.
  3. When you are ready to cook them, heat a heavy-based pan or skillet to medium-high heat. Add a tortilla and flip after 10 seconds, then cook on each side for 1-2 minutes or until brown spots form on each side. Once you’ve flipped the tortilla the second time, it should puff up. This is a good sign, as it means there is a build up of steam on the inside, which will help cook it. Keep your stack of tortillas warm by covering with a clean tea towel and keeping in a warming drawer, but they are definately best eaten immediately.
  4. For the ceviche: heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion with a large pinch of salt over a medium heat until soft (5 to 10 minutes). Add  the chopped chilli and two of the three chopped garlic cloves, and fry for another couple of minutes. Adjust seasoning and set aside to cool.
  5. In the meantime, grate the ginger and remaining garlic clove, then add this to the chopped coriander and lime juice, and leave to infuse for at least ten minutes. 
  6. Just before serving, combine the fried onion mix, lime juice, kohlrabi, apple, radish and avocado slices, and adjust seasoning. Let each person fill their own tortillas with the mix and enjoy!


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