INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

This recipe is from northern Mexico and I think it is closer to the
tamales made in Texas. Tamales from central Mexico are thick and
fluffy and are mostly dough. This is the original recipe as it would
be prepared in Mexico, including lard. Adjust as necessary to suit
your sensibilities. I substitute Crisco for the lard. I also make  this
recipe using chicken in place of the pork. Enjoy! Garry The  smallest
tamales of all are the nortenos from Coahuila and Chihuahua.  They are
as thick as a very fat finger and about 2 1/2 inches long.  The
northerners express contempt for the large, fluffy white ones of
central Mexico, which to them are all dough and very little
else--which is true of the commercially made ones. The dough in these
is almost overcome by the filling of pork in a sauce of chiles anchos
strongly flavored with cumin. Cut the meat into 1-inch squares--it
should have a little fat on it--and put it into the saucepan with the
onion, garlic, salt, and peppercorns. Barely cover the meat with  water
and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer the meat until  it is
tender--about 40 minutes. Set the meat aside to cool off in the  broth.
Strain the meat, reserving the broth, and chop it roughly.  Heat the
griddle and toast the chiles well, turning them from time to  time so
that they do not burn. Let them cool a little. When they are  cool
enough to handle, slit them open and remove the seeds and veins.  When
the chiles have cooled off they should be crisp. Crumble them  into the
blender jar or spice grinder and grind them with the cumin  seeds to a
fine powder. Melt the lard, add the chili powder, and cook  it for a
few seconds, stirring it all the time. Add the meat and,  continuing to
cook, let it season for a minute or so. Add the pork  broth and let the
mixture cook for about 5 minutes over a medium  flame so that it
reduces a little--there should be quite a bit of  sauce left. Add salt
as necessary. Make the basic dough but do not  add any baking powder.
Mix the chili sauce into the dough to give it  a little color. Using
the smallest husks or the large ones cut in  half, spread a scant
tablespoon of the dough thinly over each husk,  covering an area about
2 X 2 inches. Put a little of the meat with  plenty of sauce into the
center of the dough and fold the husk as you  would for ordinary
tamales. Stack the tamales in the steamer and cook  for about 2 hours.
Test to see if they are done.  NOTES : Entered into MasterCook by Garry
Howard, Cambridge, MA  garhow@hpubmaa.esr.hp.com or
g.howard@ix.netcom.com Recipe by: The  Cuisines of Mexico by Diana
Kennedy ISBN 0-06-012344-3  Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V4 #043 by Walt
Gray  <waltgray@mnsinc.com> on Feb 10, 1997.

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 166
Calories From Fat: 72
Total Fat: 8g
Cholesterol: 30.5mg
Sodium: 134.9mg
Potassium: 209.5mg
Carbohydrates: 14.3g
Fiber: <1g
Sugar: <1g
Protein: 8.5g