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Chipas de Tucuman a la Mercedes Sosa

Mercedes Sosa is the lady from Argentina who has a voice that nourishes the soul. Tucuman is the province that she was born in where this little recipe comes from. Its a something made by the indigenous people from the north of Argentina.

Please excuse that I do not have measurements. Just add in quantities that feel right to you. The idea is to have a dough that feels like plastacine (play dough).

Ingredients
Mandioca flour (3 parts)
Stone ground whole wheat flour (1/2 part)
Butter or Ghee (I use Ghee)
A very little sugar/stevia
A very little salt
Baking powder (make your own...2 parts cream of tartar + 1 part bicarb. Mix well. Store in airtight container)
Kefir yoghurt (optional...you may use your own home made yoghurt or your own sour dough starter)
Milk
Diced cheese (I use a natural vegetarian cheese)
Diced chilli pepper (I use a variety of sweetish red and yello peppers that are not too spicy. The traditional recipe does not use pepper. The pepper gives the chipas an awesome colour and taste.)

Throw them all in a bowl, except the milk and mix. Rub the mixture between your hands. It should form crumbs due to the yoghurt and ghee binding the flour in chunks. Add the milk little by little and knead well. Add more mandioca flour if its too sticky. The dough should be moist but not stick to your hands at all. Leave the dough to rest for about 30min or longer. Longer the better, because the dough will start to become alive if you leave it for long. Break off little pieces, roll them into balls and flatten them gently. Place them in a lightly greased baking pan. You may sprinkle a bit of course flour over the pan, which will prevent sticking.

Bake for about 20 min on 350F or so. The cheese will start to bubble out of the chipa.

Use a small quantity of cheese and peppers.

Here's a pic...
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Pablo was so impressed with these that he said we should go and sell them in calle Cordoba, where the chipa merchants usually hang out. He said these would be a hit.

What is mendioca flour?!! I

What is mendioca flour?!!

I want to make this recipe right away!

These look so delicious that I can't imagine there would be any left to sell!

The pic should appear now.

The pic should appear now. Mandioca flour is made from a tuber type vegetable. You should be able to find it in grocery stores. It may be called, "Farinha de pau" or "Manioc flour" which is what its called in Brasil. In Spanish it is called "harina de mandioca".

Its a flour made from these root like veges. They may be called yuca. They are very tasty and nutritious roots. The recipe is also pretty nourishing.

Here are some mandiocas

mandioca

This is known also as

This is known also as Tapioca flour in Brasil and other parts of the world. In the carribean it is called Yuca.

Cheepacito update

The recipe has progressed into something much simpler.

This is the version I tried this morning. All ingredients are estimations. Go with what you feel to add.

- 3/4 cup mandioca flour
- 1/4 cup rice, pea and rye flour
- diced cheese
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup kefir yoghurt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar.
- pinch of salt, fresh chilli and yeast flakes ground together with the sugar to form powder
- 1 teaspoon home made baking powder (2/3 cream of tartar powder + 1/3 baking soda)
- 1 teaspoon butter

Mix all together and knead. Break into balls and flatten.

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I will get the ingredients I

I will get the ingredients I don't have and make it today.

You make food sound so good!

Is that your thumb in the picture?

Your photos please!

Senora, if you are interested in trying it out, let me add a few more suggestions.

The flours can be varied. Mandioca is the most important. One may use rye or rice or urad flour or all three.
The dough must be moist yet not too wet. When you knead it, it should not stick to your hands. So adjust the moisture accordingly with kefir. Better to use less kefir and add as you require more. I keep rice flour around when kneading it, so that I can add flour if the dough is too sticky.

Once the dough is made, let it rest for about an hour if you wish. They should be eaten nice n hot!

Lets see your pics please!

If I can wait to take

If I can wait to take pictures before eating!

Thanks for the complete instructions, Senor.

My milk kefir took its time

My milk kefir took its time culturing. When it was ready, it was too late for me to make the chipas. I will make them this morning (Saturday) and report.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Yes, I made the chipas.

Yes, I made the chipas. Photos should go up soon with many thanks to Sascha.

They were outrageously delicious.

Because I couldn't find tapioca flour here in town, I ground tapioca into flour in a little coffee grinder. The consistency of the dough I had was like marzipan. Is your dough like that?

When the before and after pictures go up, you will see that the chipas I made do not look quite so professional as yours.

As it happens, I ate them all up for breakfast. I also made yerba mate tea to go with them.

Will you give us more recipes?

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Those look like they must

Those look like they must have been good. Do you have better quality photos? Those photos do not show the beauty of your cheepacitos. Maybe put the light on or take them outside...wait what am I saying. Those cheepas must be history by now!

Yerba and Cheeeepas are a match made in Heaven.

One Love

Thank you for the photos by

Thank you for the photos by email! I uploaded them. These look much better. Well done!

I was discussing these

I was discussing these chipas with Mauro and was saying how I could start doing workshops on how to make chipas. You know, the zen of chipas, chipas and spirituality. International tours, t-shirts and all that. Mauro suggested that I sell them at Godwriting workshops. It was then that the idea struck me. Big bands usually have an opening act, so I was thinking that the chipa workshop could be a like an opening act for the Godwriting workshop. Mauro went one step further and suggested that we use Karen's haikus and make them into fortune chipas.

One Love

Love the idea of fortune

Love the idea of fortune chipas!

I think a cooking workshop would stand on its own! It's a full act itself!