How To Cook Tamales

Tamale is the most popular dish of the Mexican cuisine! Tamale is a combination of dough called masa (made from corn), which is cooked in a special way, and meat filling with hot sauce. All these are wrapped in corn husk leaves. The Mexicans love tamale! They can be bought from street vendors singing ‘Hot, hot tamale!’ or order at a restaurant.

Ingredients:

• corn husk leaves - 20 pcs;
• chicken breast - 200 grams;
• cornflour - 2 glassfuls;
• chicken stock - 1.5 glassfuls;
• butter - 100 grams;
• green tomato - 200 grams;
• cilantro - 0.5 bunch;
• garlic - 1 pc;
• green chili pepper - 2 pcs;
• yeast powder - 1 teaspoonful;
• spices (salt, pepper).

How To Cook:

Soak corn husk leaves and leave them in water for the night. Dry husk leaves are found in stores quite often, but you can use fresh ones.

Make dough by mixing cornflour, salt and butter. Add chicken stock gradually. Add yeast and stir with a wooden spoon until bubbles appear.

Make dressing using green tomatoes, garlic and pepper. Boil all these ingredients in small amount of water.

Filter it, add potherbs and some tomato pot liquor and mix using a blender.

Boil the tomato mix for 20 minutes until it becomes a thick paste. Add pieces of boiled chicken breast.

Put 1 tablespoonful of dough on each husk leaf, and then add tomato paste with chicken breast. If the husk leaves are small, use 2 leaves per tamale. Fold the tamales, but do not make it too tight so that the dough would have where to rise. Tie the tamales.

Steam the tamales for an hour until the dough gets light and airy.

If the dough separates from husks easily, the tamales are ready.

Use the remaining paste as sauce.