Chicken Tamales

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Prepare all the ingredients

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• 2¼ Corn husks

Place corn husks in a large bowl. Soak in hot water for 30-40 minutes covered with a plate.

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• 50 g masa harina
• ⅛ tsp baking powder
• ⅛ pinch ground cumin
• ⅛ pinch sea salt

Prepare dough ingredients. Mix masa harina, sea salt, cumin and baking powder in a bowl

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• 67⅞ ml Vegetable stock
• 11⅜ ml grapeseed oil

• stand mixer with paddle

Mix oil and stock. Start stand mixer on medium speed, gradually add 350 ml of stock. Consistency should be like soft paste. If not, gradually add up to 125 ml of extra stock

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Cover with a wet/damp towel to prevent the dough from drying out

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• 57⅛ g chicken thighs
• 4¼ g Taco spices

Sprinkle taco spices on a plate. Coat chicken thighs in taco spices

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• frying pan

Preheat a grill or frying pan (medium-high heat). Cook chicken thighs 2.5 minutes per side or until fully cooked

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Set chicken thighs aside to cool down

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• knife

De-seed and dice the tomato. Dice the shallots. Finely chop cilantro. Squeeze juice of 1 lime in the bowl

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• cooking spoon

Mix with a spoon, set aside

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• knife

Chop the chicken thighs into small dice pieces

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• knife

Slice 1-2 corn husks into 0.5-1cm wide strips

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Start assembling the tamales. Lay corn a soaked corn husk glossy side up. Add 2 tbsp of masa dough in the wider half of the corn husk. Spread it evenly in the wider half, leave 1-2 cm gap from top and sides. Tip: dip your fingers in a bowl with clean water, it will prevent dough from sticking

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Add the filling (chicken) Tip: you can replace chicken and make them vegan

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Tightly close the corn husk from sides, connecting edges of both sides together (sides, top and bottom). Do not press too hard, just gently seal the dough

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Wrap one side of the corn husk over the other. Then fold the empty bottom part up towards the edge of the wide (open) part

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Tie the tamale around with the corn husk strips we cut earlier

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• steamer basket

Place all tamales in the steamer tray/bowl. If they are too long, place an empty heat proof bowl in the middle and lean tamales on it

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• steamer

Steam tamales for 35 minutes on medium heat. Do not heat them for too long or on very high heat, otherwise they will be too wet and soggy

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Take them out, stack on top of each other and let them cool down a minute or 2 before serving

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Serve with a salsa of your choice and sour cream. Experiment with different fillings and salsas

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Enjoy!

Enjoy your meal!