Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gplain flour
- 10 gfine salt
- 2 tspbaking powder
- 80 ggrasa vacuna (rendered beef fat), soft, or 80 g butter
- 280 mlwarm water or warm milk
To fry
- 500 ggrasa vacuna, or 1 litre sunflower oil
To serve
- caster sugar for dusting
- dulce de leche, optional
- a gourd of mate
Directions
- Rub the 80 g of soft fat into the flour, salt and baking powder with your fingertips until the mixture is evenly sandy.
- Add the warm water a little at a time and bring it together into a soft, slightly sticky dough, then knead 5 minutes until smooth. Warm liquid keeps the fat soft and the dough pliable.
- Cover and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. The rest relaxes the gluten so the rounds do not shrink back when you shape them.
- Divide into 12 pieces, roll each into a ball, then flatten with a rolling pin or the heel of your hand to a disc of about 12 cm and 5 mm thick.
- Cut a slit or press a hole through the centre of each disc with a knife or your finger; without it the middle balloons and stays raw.
- Melt the frying fat in a deep pan and bring it to 180°C (350°F). Test with a scrap of dough: it should rise and sizzle immediately without browning in seconds.
- Fry one or two at a time for about 90 seconds a side, spooning hot fat over the top so they puff, until golden with darker blisters and cooked through at the slit.
- Drain on a rack, dust generously with sugar while still hot, and eat straight away with mate, which is how they are eaten on a grey, rainy afternoon.
Technique
- Frying in grasa vacuna rather than oil is the traditional practice and gives the flavour and the particular flaky-chewy texture Argentines associate with the torta frita. Oil works but tastes noticeably plainer.
- The dough is deliberately unleavened apart from baking powder. It should be soft and slack, not bread dough; if it feels tight, add a splash more water.
- The link to rain is real and near-universal: in Argentina and Uruguay people make tortas fritas when it rains, a habit tied to gaucho and Guarani customs of frying dough on wet days when there was no outdoor work.
Substitutions
- No rendered fat: use butter in the dough and sunflower oil to fry. Keep the oil at a true 180°C (350°F), since a lower temperature soaks the dough.
Variations
- Some households add 2 tbsp of sugar to the dough itself and skip the dusting.
- In Uruguay and Entre Rios the same dough, cut smaller and fried without a hole, becomes the base for a savoury version eaten with cheese.
History
A simple fried bread, made from a basic dough of flour, fat and water, flattened and deep-fried until golden, documented across Argentina and neighboring Uruguay as a traditional treat, particularly closely associated with rainy days, reflected in the well-known regional saying connecting torta frita specifically with rain. Its simple, inexpensive ingredient list reflects a practical, accessible treat historically prepared at home using ingredients readily available in most rural Argentine households, particularly across the country’s Pampas grassland region tied to its gaucho, or cowboy, culinary tradition. Torta frita remains a beloved traditional snack across Argentina, commonly enjoyed with mate.
Frequently asked questions
What is Torta frita?
Torta frita is a snack from Argentina: fried dough rounds made for rainy-day mate. A simple fried bread, made from a basic dough of flour, fat and water, flattened and deep-fried until golden, documented across Argentina and neighboring Uruguay as a traditional treat, particularly closely associated with rainy days, reflected in the well-known regional saying connecting torta frita specifically with rain. Its simple, inexpensive ingredient list reflects a practical, accessible treat historically prepared at home using ingredients readily available in most rural Argentine households, particularly across the country’s Pampas grassland region tied to its gaucho, or cowboy, culinary tradition. Torta frita remains a beloved traditional snack across Argentina, commonly enjoyed with mate.
How long does Torta frita take to make?
Torta frita takes 20 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 tortas fritas. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Torta frita?
Yes, within limits. No rendered fat: use butter in the dough and sunflower oil to fry. Keep the oil at a true 180°C (350°F), since a lower temperature soaks the dough.
What is the most important thing to get right in Torta frita?
Cover and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. The rest relaxes the gluten so the rounds do not shrink back when you shape them.
