Mexican Cuisine

Tamales

Cuisine: Mexican Created by Sara Chiswell

Ingredients

500g lard, softened
2½ kg maize dough (masa)
4 cups chicken stock
Salt
Corn husks (see Note)

Chicken Filling
1½ kg chicken
½ onion
Salt and pepper
100g ancho chilli
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves
2 tomatoes (optional)
1 tbsn oil

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Preparation

In a large mixing bowl, beat lard until nice and creamy. Add maize dough, salt and gradually add chicken stock until you achieve a nice spreadable consistency. You can test this by dropping a little piece of the mixture into a glass of cold water. If the dough floats; you have done it, if not keep on mixing with your hand by lifting it to air it, continue testing if ready.

To prepare filling: Boil chicken in 1 litre of water with ½ onion, salt and pepper. Let it cool and then shred chicken meat. Seed and wash the chillies, then cover with boiling water and soak for ½ hour. Blend chillies and remaining ingredients until smooth, then fry in hot oil. Add shredded chicken and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Wash the corn husks, being careful not to break or split them and choose ones that will be wide enough to enclose the filling, or you can use 2 or 3 overlapped. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the corn masa on the bottom part of the cornhusk. Place some of the chicken filling in the middle and fold in sides towards the centre and then the top down over the middle.

Place a vegetable steamer in the base of the pot. Layer tamales around the steamer (placing them with the seam down) snugly fitting as many as you can in the pot leaving some room at the top. Add 3 - 4 cups of water and then cover with any leftover corn husks and a tea towel, tucking in the sides.

Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, topping up the water if necessary. You can test them by taking out one tamale, peel it and if the husk peels off the dough easily they are ready. Leave them in the pot until you are ready to eat them or to cool down if you are not eating them straight away.

Tamales freeze perfectly well and reheat them in the microwave or on a hot plate with the leaves still on.

Note: Ask your local greengrocer to keep the corn husks that they trim off the fresh corn. Wash well before using.

Place a coin in the bottom of the pot before filling. This will rattle when the level of the water is getting low and you will know that you need to add some more.

Mexican Restaurants

Displaying 10 of 239 Mexican Restaurants.

Restaurant		Suburb
1.	Prickles	Parap
2.	Gertie's Bar & Lounge	New Farm
3.	Bluecorn	St Kilda
4.	Azteca's	Randwick
5.	Vera Cruz	Cremorne
6.	Mars Hill Cafe	Parramatta
7.	Juanita's Mexican Restaurant	Kensington
8.	Mexicali Rose	Richmond
9.	Manly Wharf Hotel	Manly
10.	El Sol Mexican Restaurant	Cronulla

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