Mexican Tamales (Makes: 16 tamales)

Ingredients

• Tamale Filling
• 675g pork loin
• 1 large onion, halved
• 1 clove garlic
• 4 dried ancho chillies or mild red chillies
• 475ml water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• Tamale Dough
• 230g masa harina
• 300ml beef stock
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 150g lard
• 225g dried corn husks
• 250ml soured cream

Method
Prep:35min › Cook:3hr › Ready in:3hr35min

1. Place pork into a large saucepan with onion and garlic and add water to cover. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the meat is cooked through, about 2 hours.
2. Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from the chillies. Place chillies in a saucepan with 475ml of water. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. Transfer the chillies and water to a liquidiser and blend until smooth. Pass the mixture through a sieve, stir in salt and set aside. Shred the cooked meat and mix in 250ml of the chilli sauce.
3. Soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water. In a large bowl, beat the lard with a tablespoon of the stock until fluffy. Combine the masa harina, baking powder and salt; stir into the lard mixture, adding more stock as necessary to form a spongy dough.
4. Spread the dough out over the corn husks to 5mm to 1cm thickness. Place one tablespoon of the meat filling into the centre. Fold the sides of the husks in toward the centre and place in a steamer. Steam for 1 hour.
5. Remove tamales from husks and drizzle remaining chilli sauce over. Top with soured cream. For a creamy sauce, mix soured cream into the chilli sauce.

Ingredients

Dried ancho chillies, masa harina (maseca) and dried corn husks are available online.