Learn about the main ingredients for making Paraguayan chipa. Ingredients that you can use whether you're in Paraguay or in another country and get the same delicious chipa you can find on any Paraguayan street.
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We are just a few weeks away from Easter. Here in Paraguay, it is very common for people to come from the city to the countryside to visit their relatives and part of that visit involves making and eating chipa.

Chipa is a gluten-free bread. It's made with cassava/manioc/yuca starch, cheese, eggs, milk, and anise. It's a simple bread, often made in a donut shape and it's served with a cup of hot cocido (a tea made with yerba mate). With a crunchy crust and spongy in the inside.
In the coming weeks, I'll be sharing with you 4 different chipa recipes. Some traditional and others not so traditional, but all very yummy. For these recipes, I have my friend Jazmín Schmidt from Lo de Jaz sharing her favorite chipa recipes with us. An amazing and very creative baker.
Ingredients for chipa
Today we talk about the ingredients and how to knead chipa. I hope it will help you and encourage you to participate by making one or all four recipes with us.

Paraguayan cheese: it's a fresh cheese, with a mild flavor. Depending on the brand, it's creamy or with a slightly firm texture (I used Trebol)
Alternatives: some fresh cheese would be the most similar. But I have also used mozzarella and other people cottage cheese. Cheddar cheese. Half feta cheese and half mozzarella.
Butter: butter or lard? this recipe was made with unsalted butter, but people in the countryside (where I live) swear it's better with lard ? (I used Trebol)

Eggs: in the countryside, people use fresh eggs, but these eggs tend to be smaller than the store bought ones and you need to increase the amount of liquid to one or 2 tablespoons. These recipes were made with eggs weighing 59 grams.
Milk: use whole milk, better yet, sour milk. To make sour milk, add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to your milk and let it rest for 5 minutes before using.
Salt: Paraguay cheese contains very little salt. Depending on your cheese, you need to increase or decrease the amount of salt. How do you know if your dough has enough salt? just try a little bit of the dough before you continue kneading.

Corn Flour: The cornflour in Paraguay is fresh. The corn is boiled for a short amount of time and then passed through the mill. This flour is a little bit hard to get in other countries. But since our recipes use a small amount of corn flour, you can use whatever you can find in your country.

Cassava starch: Having baked in different countries, I can tell you that some starches are dryer than others. Some seem to absorb more liquid and you're left with a very wet dough. If your dough does not come together, add a little more milk, always starting with 1 tablespoon. If you have never baked with cassava starch, you will realize that it absorbs the liquid very quickly, that is why it is important to have extra starch.

Anise: It is not chipa if it doesn't have anise seeds. But the seeds have a strong flavor that not everyone likes. I used only ¼ teaspoon in my recipes, but if it's something you like, use 1 teaspoon.
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Dough for chipa
What happens if my dough is too wet? your chipa won´t rise. The flavor is the same, but it won´t look like chipa ?
Dough: The texture of the dough is playdough-like. If the dough cracks a lot and doesn´t want to come together, add a little bit more liquid. After kneading, let the dough rest for half an hour. If you have an electric mixer with a dough hook, use it and mix it for 3 to 4 minutes.
Oven: It´s very important that the oven is very hot, especially for chipa licuadora. Your chipa will rise and brown nicely.
I hope this has helped you and encourages you to join us next week. See you on Tuesday!
Note: this post was first published on March 3rd., 2018.
Recipes you might like:
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Jennie Cunningham
I'd love to give these a try as my first "Chipa by the Dozen" recipe! : ) Any good ideas on where to get cassava starch in the US? Or just Amazon?
Jennie Cunningham
Or is tapioca starch a good substitute?
Lizet Flores de Bowen
Hi Jennie! Welcome! I hope you like the recipes 🙂 I usually buy it on Amazon.
In the US it has different names, and it makes it tricky to buy online. The one I know is like the one in Paraguay is Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Flour, or you can look up Erawan Tapioca Starch Powder on Amazon.
I think some Mexican stores have the brand Goya. Just make sure it's the starch.
Anonymous
You can get it ar Walmart. Look for Cassava flour.
Mikayla
I've always wanted to try baking with cassava, this sounds like an excellent place to start. Thanks for sharing!
Lizet Flores de Bowen
I hope you give them a try!
Adriana
Now I need chipa in my life! I would devour more than one. Love the background and all the information. Felicidades amiga super yummy recipe and your pictures are superb!
Lizet Flores de Bowen
Thanks for coming by Adriana!
Lauren Vavala | DeliciousLittleBites
I have a love for all things bread. I don't get to eat it often, but when I do I love o try new flavors and recipes! Adding this one to the list because it sounds reallllllly good!!
Lizet Flores de Bowen
I love bread too ❤ You should definitely try these 🙂
Colleen
These look so amazing, and I'm super excited to try them! Thank you for sharing!
Lizet Flores de Bowen
I hope you like them!
Jill
I've never heard of these. They sound very appealing though - lots of textures and great flavor!
Lizet Flores de Bowen
I hope you give them a try Jill!
Jamie
I think I could eat a dozen of these they look so good! The details you listed for all the ingredients are super helpful! 🙂
Lizet Flores de Bowen
I know! they are little and crunchy. They go great with coffee.
I'm glad the details are helpful 🙂
Angelica Berrios
Liz, siempre estuve curiosa sobre el nombre de tu blog, y ahora descubro que es el nombre de estos pancitos. Se ven ricos, se parecen a las mandocas, unas rosquitas con harina de maíz, queso y semillas de anís, en algunos lugares de Venezuela las hacen con plátano maduro, son ricas!
Me gustaría probar la receta, estaré pendiente con tus próximos post. Abrazos!!
Lizet Flores de Bowen
Si Angélica! el nombre del blog es un juego de palabras con el pan de acá y la película. Ya era hora que ponga recetas de este pan paraguayo.
Me diste curiosidad con esas mandocas, ya me fui a ver algunas recetas, suena muy interesante. La próxima que plátanos voy a probar.
Danis
Great post. Keep up good work. Good luck Share on Facebook.
Good job. 😀 https://goo.gl/KymrNb