SALVADORAN TAMALES RECIPE

Steps:

• Part 1 - Filling.
• 1. Carefully decant all ingredients (minus the boiled potato & garbanzo beans) at once in boiling water, stir vigorously until mixed and cover it until brought back to a boil.
• 2. Lower heat to simmer temperature. Simmer for 3 hours stirring every 15 minutes or less to avoid sticking to the bottom and burning.
• 3. Let it rest overnight tightly covered.
• 4. Next day, using simmer temperature, bring it to boil, and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or less to avoid sticking to the bottom and burning.
• 5. Add already boiled potatoe's and garbanzo beans.
• 6. Let it rest tightly covered until it cools down from hot to warm.
• Part 2 - Batter.
• 1. Mix all ingredients in large bowl until batter acquires an even texture. When ready masa should feel about three times thicker than pancake batter. Add more water if necessary. Add salt as needed to fit your taste and diet.
• Part 3 - Garnish.
• 1. Place olives in a bowl and place at arm's length on tamal-preparation surface.
• Part 4 - Wrappings.
• 1. Place the wrappings also at arm's length on tamal-preparation surface.
• Part 5 - Making the Tamale's.
• 1. Lay out aluminum foil square on tamal-preparation surface.
• 2. Lay out banana leave square on top of aluminum foil square.
• 3. Pour a heaping cooking-spoon of batter on center of banana leaf slightly closer to you but not on the edge.
• 4. Making a depression in center of batter, pour three full table spoons of Filling on center of Batter.
• 5. Toss in 1 olives on top of the batter/filling.
• 6. Wrap up tamal on four sides with banana leaf & foil avoiding any leakage as much as possible.
• NOTE: The best way to fold them would be to fold end closest to you forward first, then folds the ends in and roll the tamal to the end of the wrapping.
• Part 5 - Steaming Tamale's
• 1. In a large stock pot bring 2L of water to a boil (add salt).
• 2. Place a metal rack at the bottom of the Stock pot.
• 3. Stack 1/2 or the tamales in the stock pot allowing room for steam to move in between them.
• 4. Steam for a total of 4 hours, make sure to change positions of tamales every hour to ensure even cooking in all tamales.
• 5. Continue the same proccess with the remaining tamales (or use 4 stock pots).
• 6. Tamal's are now ready to be served directly from the stock pot.
• Note: Tamales can be served at breakfast, lunch or supper. Accompany tamales with coffee at breakfast, or cold ale or lager at lunch or supper. Enjoy!
• Part 6 - Freezing Tamales
• 1. Let tamales cool down to room temperature.
• 2. Pack in sealed plastic bags. Make sure that tamales have cooled before placing them in plastic bags.
• 3. Freeze them.
• Part 7 - Defrosting and Serving Tamales.
• 1. Defrosting tamales may prove tricky. If heated wrong, tamales may get sandy, chewy, or crunchy. The best result is obtained if tamales are let thaw at room temperature.
• 2. Once thawed, discard aluminum foil wrap and, still wrapped in banana leave wrap tamal in polyurethane foil ("Saran wrap"), then microwave tamal for 2 1/2 minutes at high temperature.

Steps:

• "1. Simmer the chicken with all ingredients listed (besides the potatoes and garbanzo beans) with enough water to cover well. All of these vegetables and herbs are to flavor the broth which you’ll later use in the recaudo and the masa. This broth/chicken stock needs to be really flavorful. Some people use chicken bouillon to achieve this, and you can feel free to add some, but I avoid using bouillon. 2. Simmer the chicken until it is cooked through. Remove the chicken to a large dish to cool. 3. Remove the vegetables from the chicken stock and discard them. When cool enough, taste the chicken stock and determine whether youd like to add a little additional salt. (I added a little more at this point.) Set this aside. You will be using it soon for the racaudo and masa! 4. When the chicken is cool, discard the skin and bone. Shred the meat into large pieces by hand and season with a little more salt if needed. (I added a little salt at this point.) Set aside. 5. If you havent already, wash and peel 3 large potatoes. Cut each potato into french fry-sized. If cooking your own garbanzo beans, you should have done this a day before. If using canned, just have them ready to open and drain when you assemble the tamales. I like the tamales with minimal filling ingredients but other people may put any of the following in their tamales: slices of hard-boiled egg, capers, green olives, green beans, sliced green and red bell pepper. Use any of these if you wish! 7. Set all these ingredients aside. These will be used, along with the recaudo, as the filling for your tamales. Next, we make the racaudo.The recaudo (sauce) 8 small tomatoes 1 small green pepper 1/2 medium white onion 3 cloves garlic 1 dried guajillo chile, stem removed 1/8 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted 4 bay leaves 1/4 cup sesame seeds, roasted 1 teaspoon whole cloves 1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns 1 tablespoon dry oregano 1 teaspoon achiote (ground annatto) 2 pieces French bread, each about the size of a small fist 1 cup chicken stock 1 teaspoon salt 1. Roast the tomatoes, green pepper, onion, garlic and guajillo chile on a comal/griddle (or large frying pan) over medium heat. (Be careful not to burn the guajillo chile – it doesnt need much time on there.) Once slightly roasted on each side, put everything into a blender. You can use a large wooden spoon to smash the tomatoes inside the blender to make room if it gets too full. Dont run the blender just yet. 2. Some use a pre-made relajo spice packet for the recaudo, but I wanted to create my own homemade relajo; spice mixture with measurements of each spice for those who don;t have these packets locally available. (This also gives you greater control over the flavor and gives the recipe better accuracy since relajo spice mixtures vary by brand.) The spices you need to make your own relajo are: pumpkin seeds, bay leaves, sesame seeds, whole cloves, whole cumin seeds, black peppercorns, dry oregano and achoite (ground annatto.) If your pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds arent already roasted, slightly dry roast them (no oil) in a small pan or on the comal, stirring and being careful not to burn them. 3. Add all the relajo; spices on top of the vegetables in the blender. Add the chicken stock, french bread and salt. If your blender is a standard size, its a very tight fit! Be careful and make sure your lid is secure! Blend until smooth. (Your blender might not blend all the spices perfectly smooths okay!) 4. Pour the recaudo into a medium pot and heat to simmering, stirring occasionally for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. The masa 8 cups instant corn masa flour (I used MASECA. Theres no need to buy the one that is especially for tamales.) 9 cups chicken stock 8 cups warm water 1 lb. lard 1 cup recaudo 1. In a very large bowl or large stock pot, mix the chicken stock little by little into the corn masa flour by hand. (If you run out of the homemade chicken stock, you can use store bought in its place, but I had enough.) Make sure there isn't any dry flour in the bowl and that its all been worked in. 2. Add the lard and work into the masa by hand. Make sure its completely distributed throughout – this will take a few minutes and you will notice the masa get fluffier. 3. Add the recaudo and work in by hand. 4. If youre working with the masa in a bowl, transfer it now to the stock pot. Add the water, little by little, and work it in by hand. Make sure there are no lumps. 5. This is the most difficult part of this process. Make sure you have at least one other person with you in the kitchen who is willing to switch off with you. Youre going to cook the masa in the pot over medium heat, but YOU MUST STIR CONTINUOUSLY! Do not stop stirring for more than a second or two or the masa will stick/cook to the bottom of the pot and it will be ruined. Before you start, make sure youre using a very strong, sturdy wooden spoon. Make sure you have oven mitts (especially if the handles of your pot are metal and get hot.) Make sure you have a timer you can set to keep track of the time. You will need to cook and stir the masa for at least 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove from heat and stir for another minute before allowing to cool. One thing to note: I prefer my tamales on the firmer side so Im really happy with how they turned out, but Salvadoran tamales are famously gelatinous. I think that if you wanted to achieve that & squishier; texture, you could add more chicken stock before cooking the masa, and possibly sub cooking oil for lard. The wrapping 2 packs plantain/banana leaves Aluminum foil (1 roll of 75 feet is plenty) 1. Plantain/banana leaves come frozen in the United States. About 1 hour before youre ready to assemble tamales, disinfect your kitchen sink then fill it with warm water. Submerge the packets of plantain/banana leaves in the water, (placing a pot on top if they float too much.) This will defrost them and make them more pliable. Some people later warm the plantain/banana leaves over heat but I didnt find it necessary at all. 2. After 1 hour, remove the packets from the water, cut open and drain. Rinse the leaves in warm, clean running water and shake dry before transferring to a large clean counter surface.3. Cut the plantain leaves to about 12 inches x 7 inches, (rectangles.) They wont be exactly the same measurements – that;s okay. Set aside any pieces that are too small or ripped or oddly shaped, (dont discard them – you will use them later.) 4. Cut pieces of aluminum foil to about 18 inches x 12 inches. 5. Put down a piece of foil, and on top, a plantain/banana leaf, (lighter side of the leaf facing up.) Repeat the process so you have an alternating stack of foil and plantain/banana leaves. (This makes the tamal-making process easier later.) 6. Assemble all your ingredients. Youre ready to start making the tamales! 7. Place a large spoonful of the masa as shown in the video, in the middle of the plantain/banana leaf. In the middle of the massa place a spoonful of the racuado. Add chicken, a few pieces of potato, a few garbanzos and/or whichever other fillings you prefer. 8. Fold closed as shown in the video, rolling and folding tightly to seal. Repeat process for each tamal. 9. Put the tamales in a steamer pot with slightly salted water in the bottom. (Some people cover the tamales with water but I always make sure the water doesnt touch the tamales so they can properly steam.)10. Cover the tamales with the leftover plantain/banana leaf scraps and then the lid. Simmer on low heat, adding salted water if necessary to the bottom of the pot until cooked through, making sure you dont allow the pot to cook dry/burn.11. It can be difficult to tell when the tamal is ready because while hot, the masa will be very soft. You must remove a tamal and allow it to cool a little while the other tamales continue to cook. Once its cooled, you can open it and check for doneness. Its a good sign if the potato inside is cooked. Mine took about 2 hours. 12. Allow tamales to cool before refrigerating. They will taste better re-heated the next day. Whatever isnt eaten within a few days should be frozen. Makes 30 to 40 large tamales."