Recipe for Chipa

One of my blogging friends asked me about typical paraguayan dishes. So I decided I would post some recipes of some of my favorites.

The number 1 traditional food of Paraguay would be Chipa.

In the streets of the capital city, Asuncion, you can see traditionally dressed women selling their delicious, fresh homemade chipa. I like to make a slightly different recipe, where you drop the dough into little muffin tins and bake them. Whoever knows me or has followed my blog for a while, knows that I hate the feel of cornstarch or mandioka starch on my hands. The way I make them, you don't even get your hands dirty:)

Muffin Chipa

1 cup milk

1/2 cup oil

1 cup grated cheese

2 eggs

3 cups mandioka starch (this is NOT the same as cornstarch) (also known as yucca flour, i think)

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

Put the milk, oil, cheese and eggs in the blender, blend until smooth. In a larger bowl mix together (with a large wooden spoon) the starch, salt and baking powder. Pour in the liquid ingredients and stir through until combined. Into lightly greased muffin tins, pour or if the mixture is too hard, spoon in the dough until the tin is 3/4 full. Bake at medium heat for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

These are best eaten fresh from the oven, but also freeze well. You can pop them into an oven for reheating if you want.