Christmas Tamales

The Basic Chicken Tamale Ingredients

Red Chili Sauce Simmering

Chicken Stewed in the Pressure Cooker

Finished Sauce Blended and Strained

Tamales Assembled 

Steaming Tamales

Ready to Eat with a Dash of Hot Sauce and Cilantro

Its that holiday time of year again and I always make the Mexican Christmas tradition of Tamales, little corn husk wrapped dumplings of ground corn and meat with chili sauce. I am attending to a Christmas party tonight and no surprise was asked to bring food, what to make for a crowd? How about tamales which can be made ahead of time and reheated on site? perfect. A few basic ingredients and with the aid of my pressure cooker its pretty quick too. Now on to the party!

First the dry corn husks are soaked in hot water to soften, the chicken is cooked in the pressure cooker with seasonings and garlic till fall off the bone tender, the dry chills are simmered with garlic, onion and tomato then blended and strained. Masa is made with instant masa flour. Now its simply a scoop of masa on corn husk with a spoon of shredded chicken and chili sauce, folded up and placed in a steamer for about a hour, done and ready eat or serve later.

Note: Any kind of meat, vegetable or sauce can be used.