Mexican Tamale Recipes
Traditional Sweet Tamale Recipe
by Margaret Zuniga-Healy
2 pounds prepared masa without
salt
2 cups sugar or to taste
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1-2 cups raisins, plumped in water
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts or pine nuts (optional)
30-40 dried corn husks, cleaned of debris and soaked in warm water until pliable (about 20 minutes)
Mix sugar and cinnamon into masa by hand. It's messy but efficient. Taste dough for sweetness. Add more sugar if necessary. The masa will lose some sweetness during the cooking process. Be careful about adding more cinnamon, as cinnamon will turn the tamales dark during cooking.
Drain raisins. Mix raisins and nuts into masa dough.
Scoop about 2 tablespoons masa and place in center on the smooth side of 1 corn husk. Fold sides and bottom in. Tie with a strip of corn husk or string, if you like, or just leave folded. Repeat with remaining corn husks and filling.
Cook tamales in a tamale steamer or in a conventional steamer. Line tray or basket with corn husks; place tamales on top. The tamales should not come in contact with the water. To prevent steamer from drying out, put a coin in the bottom of the steamer. You will hear it clinking as long as there is boiling water in the steamer. Steam tamales about 1 hour. They are done when masa no longer sticks to the corn husks when tamales are unrolled.
Yield: 30 tamales
Prep Time: 1-2 hours
Cook Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Intermediate
