Bean and cheese pupusas with curtido and tomato sauce

Heat 1 tbsp lard or oil over medium-high heat; add 3 cups pre-cooked beans and half a cup of their liquid and bring to a simmer.

Smash the beans down completely and let the liquid evaporate until they thicken, a few minutes. Turn off and cool completely.

For the curtido, put cabbage, carrot, red onion and jalapeno in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let sit 15 minutes; drain.

Return the vegetables to the bowl with half a cup each of white vinegar and water, salt and oregano rubbed between the hands; mix, taste for salt, cover and set aside.

For the sauce, cover six roma tomatoes, two chiles de arbol and one serrano with water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.

Transfer to the blender with two garlic cloves and a quarter cup of water; blend until smooth.

Heat a little oil in the saucepan over medium-high, add the sauce, salt and crushed oregano and bring to a simmer; taste for salt, then simmer on medium-low about five minutes.

Mix room-temperature cheese into the cooled beans until smooth.

Mix 4 cups maseca with 2 tsp salt by hand, slowly adding hot water (about 4 to 4.5 cups) until hydrated and smooth.

Knead 5 minutes until the dough forms; it should feel a little wet and no longer stick, and a pressed ball should not crack at the sides. Cover and rest 5 minutes.

Heat the comal. Roll a ball of dough, press a hole in the center, add a ball of filling, close the dough back into a ball and remove any excess.

With a little oil on the hands, flatten until nice and flat.

Cook on the comal over medium heat 4 minutes per side.