Chilahuates (banana leaf wrapped tamales)

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 cup Black beans
4 cups Masa harina
½ cup Vegetable shortening
2 cups Vegetable broth; lukewarm
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking powder
3 Banana leaves
¼ cup Vegetable oil
1 Garlic clove; finely chopped
½ cup Scallions; finely chopped
1 Chayote squash; finely chopped
6 Jalapeno chiles; stemmed and finely chopped
½ cup Almonds; blanched and finely chopped
¼ cup Chopped fresh cilantro
Salt; to taste

Directions

Put the beans in a medium pot, add water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1-2 hours (depending on the size and age of the beans). The beans are cooked when their skins break easily when stirred.

In a mixing bowl, beat the masa harina with the vegetable shortening, alternating with the broth until it is light, about 10 minutes. Add the salt and baking powder. Beat 2 minutes more.

Clean and boil or char the banana leaves (if you can't find them already precooked). Trim out the hard veins and cut the leaves into approximately 8-10" squares.

Heat the oil in a skillet and saut‚ the garlic and scallions until golden.

Add the chayote, chiles, almonds, cilantro, and beans. Mix completely, stirring and cooking everything together. Season with salt to taste.

On a banana leaf square spread out a little less than ½ cup of the masa harina like a pancake. Top with approximately 2 tsp. of the vegetable/bean mixture. Fold over the leaf like a package and repeat with the remaining leaves and filling. Place the tamales in a steamer, overlapping them diagonally to allow steam to pass through, cover the pot and steam for at least 1½ hours, checking the water level from time to time.

(Peel away the leaf and only eat the filling.) Serve with tomatillo or chipotle chile salsa, accompanied by Atole (a hot masa-based drink) for authenticity.

[ SOURCE 1998-Ap ] >>Hanneman/Buster Recipe by: A Cook's Tour of Mexico by Nancy Zaslavsky Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by KitPATh <phannema@...> on Apr 17, 1998

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