You read about our family’s Delicious Traditions for the holidays. Now here’s how to make your own authentic tamales from scratch.
Start to finish: 3-4 hours
Servings: approximately 60
60-70 corn husks (some will tear)
8-10 cups masa
6 cups red chile
water
Masa
6 cups masa harina, traditional Latin American flour
2 cups lard
3 ½ cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
• Combine water and masa harina and set aside.
• Using a mixer, cream the lard and salt.
• Combine creamed lard and masa.
Red Chile
1 ½ pounds shredded pork
2 cups meat broth
½ teaspoon salt (add to preference)
2 tablespoons lard or oil
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup Chimayo, New Mexico, red chile powder
½ teaspoon garlic salt
• In a large skillet, warm oil and brown the pork.
• Add flour and stir 1-2 minutes to create a roux.
• Add chile powder, broth and garlic salt to the rue. Cook at medium heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened. Let cool.
Assembling Tamales
• Rinse corn husks and soak in warm water until pliable (can be done ahead of time).
• Thinly spread center of each husk with 2-3 tablespoons of masa.
• Top masa with 1-2 tablespoons of cooled red chile.
• Fold sides of husk toward the center. Then fold bottom of the husk up. Optional: Fold the top down, and tie with a corn husk strip.
• Fill large steamer with 2 inches of water. Arrange tamales in steamer upright on a rack above the water level.
• Steam tamales for 45-60 minutes.
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