Venezuelan-Style Arepas Corn Cake

Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 325 F. In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together.  Add 1 1/4 cups water and the milk. Stir and knead until the mixture is very smooth. Don't worry if the dough appears wet. Let the mixture rest, covered, for about 5 to 10 minutes, to give the cornmeal time to absorb some of the liquid. (The dough should be smooth and easy to handle, without sticking excessively to your hands. If the dough seems too dry, you can add a little bit more water or milk.) Knead the dough for several minutes and let it rest again for 5 minutes. (The dough should be moist enough that you can shape it into patties without forming lots of cracks around the edges. If the dough is too wet to handle, add a small amount of masarepa, knead until smooth, and let the dough rest for 5 minutes more.) Take pieces of the dough and shape them with your hands into round disks, about 3/4 inch thick and 3 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter. When shaping the arepas, repair any cracks along the edges with your fingers (moistening your fingers with water will help). If the dough is cracking a lot as you shape it, knead some more liquid into the dough until it can be shaped into disks without forming large cracks. Lightly grease the surface of a large heavy skillet ( cast iron works well) with vegetable oil and heat the skillet over medium heat. Place the arepas into the skillet in batches, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook until the arepas are lightly browned on each side—about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve and enjoy!