What's Cooking Mexico » Appetizers and Side dishes

Before anything I need to post a disclaimer: I did not prepare these tamales. Somebody gave them to my mom but she knew I’d like to post them here so she asked for the recipe. But trust me, they are delicious and are like nothing you’ve tried before.

Getting that out of the way I’ll say that even though I’ve made pipian before (green mole made with pumpkin seeds), my mom’s for me will always be the best. Her recipe is basically the same than the one published on that link, but she only used 1/2 lb of pumpkin seeds, 1 lb tomatillo, 2 serrano peppers, 2 garlic cloves, 1 onion, 1 leaf of hoja santa and chicken broth, about 1 lt. That’s it. One of the most delicious moles you’ll ever had.

The pipian was very good, but what made that dinner incredibly good was the refriend bean tamales that went with it. Like I mentioned above, we didn’t prepare them ourselves, but were given to my mom by a friend of hers. She was kindly enough to share the recipe with her so I could post it here. They are very easy to make and go perfectly with moles of all kinds.

Refried bean tamales
Makes about 15

The ingredients:

1 kg (2 lbs) of prepared corn masa dough (see note below)

100 gr (3.5 oz) lard (hmm delicious, right?)

salt to taste

about 2 cups of refried beans, drained

avocado leaves (optional)

corn husks for tamales (found at your local Mexican market)

The how-to:

In a large bowl mix corn masa, manteca and salt. It has to be dry enough to mold.

Extend the resulting dough over a flat surface forming a square of about 2 cms (1/2 to 3/4″) thick. You can do this in 2 batches

Spread refried beans on top of the masa and carefully roll it.

Cut pieces of about 12.5 cm (5 inches) wrap them in avocado leaves and then in the corn husks.

Cook the tamales in a big steamer for about 35 minutes or until they are thoroughly cooked.

Serve hot with pipian or any other mole.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

¡Buen provecho!

© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2010. | Permalink | 22 comments |
Post tags: Corn masa, Easy recipes, Mexican food, Refried Beans, Tamales

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© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2010. | Permalink | 14 comments |
Post tags: Cheese, Corn, Easy recipes, Mexican food, Mexican ingredient, Quesadillas

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© Ben for What's Cooking Mexico, 2010. | Permalink | 16 comments |
Post tags: Chorizo, Easy recipes, Italian food, Mexican food

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