Been making flour tortillas with the press. Fresh tortillas are amazing. Mine came with a bunch of wax papers to put between the press, but I discovered they did more harm then good. After several attempts I settled on a yeast based flour tortilla recipe which I spice up with mild chili powder. Press to shape and then roll it out to size. 60 second later in a piping hot pan and you have a tortilla. Those wax papers come in handy to separate them in the freezer.
My press came pre seasoned, but I think it can do with a few more layers. What are your tips for making tortillas?
Banana leaves will work fine if they're more accessible. It's a common substitute in other countries. You might even be able to use paper, really. It just has to keep everything contained during cooking/storage.
Masa is basically just nixtamalized cornmeal/cornflour mixed with water. You can make nixtamalized corn yourself if you're willing to go through the effort. If you don't, unnixtmalized cornflour works. It's not bad, just different.
Where does milk come into tamales?! Unless you're doing sweet tamales or trying to make cheese, tamales don't involve milk.
Any chili will work, even thai. Add some capsicum if you want more of that pepper sweetness but all you can find for heat are small thais. Alternatively, use a recipe intended for chiltepins or pequin chilis. Mexico has hundreds of different chilis and all of them are used to make salsa. Just make sure to use white onion, not sweet or yellow. Throw everything in an oven till it's blackened, add cilantro/coriander, blend, season, cool, eat.
Who cares where the milk goes? I fully agree that the milk in Belgium that you can get in the supermarkets is flat out disgusting. The boiling to ultra high temperature completely kills the flavor.