Homemade Totopos, Pinole, and Camahua Memelas Recipes
Learn how to make traditional Mexican delicacies like salted and sweet totopos, pinole, and Camahua Memelas with our step-by-step guide.
The art of making tortillas, tamales, and other corn-based dishes has been passed down for generations in Mexico. Among these traditional delicacies are totopos, a crunchy snack that can be enjoyed with different toppings or just by itself. We will show you how to make two types of totopos: salted and sweet.
We'll also teach you how to make pinole, a delicious corn-based drink, and Camahua Memelas, a savory corn cake. These recipes require some skill and patience, but the results are worth it. So, let's get started!
Salted Totopos
Ingredients:
- 1 kg 600 grams of corn
- 1 kg of lard
- 30 grams of cinnamon
- 100 grams of lime
- salt to taste
Preparation
Cook the corn following the nixtamal process, let it cool, then wash it well and grind it in the hand mill. Spread the dough on a table, take it out in the sun for a while, and then smooth the cinnamon in the metate (a grinding stone or grinding slab). Later, it is mixed with the dough, and, with the lard and salt to taste, it is ground again in the metate, and the totopos are taken out of the metate with the hand, according to the desired size; cover them with a cloth napkin and put them on the hot comal for cooking; they are only flipped once.
Sweet Totopos
Ingredients:
- 1 kg 600 grams of white corn
- 1 kg of panela (unrefined whole cane sugar)
- 1 kg of lard
- 30 grams of cinnamon
- 100 grams of lime
Preparation
The corn is cooked following the nixtamal process; it is left to cool; it is washed well and ground in a hand mill; then the dough is spread out on a table and taken out in the sun for a while. Later in the batter, the panela is ground with the cinnamon, then it is mixed with the dough and the lard. It is ground again in the metate, and the totopos are taken out of the metate with the hand, according to the desired size. Cover the totopos with a cloth napkin and place them in the hot comal (a flat griddle or skillet) for cooking; they are only flipped once.
Pinole
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of corn
- 500 grams of sugar
- 50 grams of cinnamon
Preparation
Brown the corn on the comal, let it cool, and then grind it in the metate with the cinnamon, then grind the sugar according to how sweet you want it.
Camahua Memelas
Ingredients:
- 12 seasoned corn
- ¾ kg of lard
- 60 grams of ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons of baking powder
- 1 kg of sugar
Preparation
The corn is shelled and the grains are ground in a hand mill, then the lard, cinnamon, baking powder, and sugar to taste are added; mix the dough well, and then make buns according to the desired size and flatten them with a bottle; let them rest before putting them in the oven.
