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My Secret Homemade Tamales Recipe

Ingredients

How to make it

  • For meat filling:
  • Brown meat lightly on all sides, in the oil. Add onion & garlic & saute 2 minutes more. Add remaining ingredients for meat filling, plus enough hot water to cover. Bring to boil & then simmer, uncovered, until meat is very tender. You may need to add a little water now & then. Remove meat from pot & place on a large platter. Reserve liquid in pot. Allow meat to cool enough to handle, then shred very finely, by hand. Put meat back in pot with liquid & boil gently until you have about 1 cup of sauce remaining in pot..Thicken by sprinkling in cornmeal, stirring rapidly all the while, until you have a medium-thick consistency. Set aside while you prepare the masa. Follow directions on masa package for mixing, but also add the above masa filling ingredients. Remove corn husks from hot water & dry with cloth or paper towels. Spread the masa about 1/4 inch thick on smooth side of corn husk, being sure you leave about 3/4 inch uncoated at top & bottom of husk. Roll tamale up securely & fold bottom of husk up so that about 1 and 1/2 inches is folded up onto tamale.Repeat until all of meat filling & masa is used up. In a tamale steamer place hot water until it comes almost up to the steaming rack. Now place tamales in steaming-rack with the folded-up end resting on bottom of rack. You can pack the tamales in fairly tightly. Cover pot & steam tamales over gently boiling water until the tamales are firm to the touch (about 25 minutes). Remove carefully from pot & let cool about 10 minutes before serving.
  • Note: you can also make these with same amount of chicken or pork, if desired. Use same ingredients as for beef filling.

Reviews & Comments 7

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  • ladybcrusher 13 years ago
    I have been searching for a good Tamale Recipe, I am going to try, I have never made Tamles, I'm going to learn, and their going to be great!!!
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    " It was excellent "
    hunnee ate it and said...
    excellent post, love tamales *5*
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    " It was excellent "
    dmajor ate it and said...
    I have never attempted to make tamales before but after reading your recipe I am going to try! Thanks for the recipe!
    Was this review helpful? Yes Flag
    " It was excellent "
    bakermel ate it and said...
    Sounds delicious! :) Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! :) Hope you have a great weekend! :)
    ~Melinda
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  • lenora 15 years ago
    I remember tamales from my childhood. I use to make tamale pie but really like the individual ones. I have never made my own, this sounds like it could be a winner though.I did notice that in your recipe you don't use lard. I use to wonder about this if using another less fattening fat would change the taste of the dish. Thanks for sharing anyway.
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    " It was excellent "
    dooley ate it and said...
    My wife is Mexican and we love making Tamales, These sound right on the money! That's a 5!
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  • shirleyoma 15 years ago
    Sounds allot like mine, love tamales!! got my 5
    hugss
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The Cook

busmamawilliams Clifton, NJ

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