Chef demonstrates how to make tamales in a slow cooker

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Beloved of countless Mexican festival days, making tamales is a brilliantly versatile and delicious skill to master.  This recipe, from YouTube user mymexicanrecipes, requires a bit of prep, but the results are worth the time spent making it, and like podding beans, the process of wrapping tamales can be strangely therapeutic.  Enlisting a second or third pair of hands to help wrap makes the task positively fun! 
The fresh tomatillo and chili salsa taste every bit as good as it sounds, and the heat can be cranked up or down according to how hot you like things.  
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Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless stew meat
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup chopped, and one piece of onion
7 large tomatillos
7 each chile de Arbol (or chile of your choice)
2 ice cubes, broken
2 cups of Masa
2 tbs vegetable shortening
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbs rice flour
1 package of tamale wrappers (soaked)
1 tsp salt
Instructions:
1.  Bring two saucepans of water to the boil, add the tomatillos and chiles to one and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender, and place the meat, a piece of onion and 2 cloves of garlic in the other pan and simmer for 1.5 hours, before removing the meat (reserve 2 cups of the cooking water) and shredding with two forks.
2.  Meanwhile, place the tomatillos, chiles and 1/2 cup of the cooking water into a blender with 1/4 cup onion and 2 cloves of garlic, along with a pinch of salt and blend until smooth.  Pour a little olive oil into a skillet, add the salsa and cook for around 5 - 8 minutes, checking the seasoning as you do before stirring the meat through the salsa and leaving to cool.
3.  Place the Masa, rice flour, shortening, baking powder and 1 tsp of salt into a large bowl and mix with your fingers before adding the ice and enough of the meat cooking liquid to make a workable paste that isn't too stiff or dry.
4.  Assemble the tamales by spreading or pressing the masa in a thick layer on the lower half of the wrapper, placing a spoonful of the meat mixture into the centre and then folding the two sides together first, and then bringing the pointed end up to meet the opposite end, to hold the filling in place.  Set each tamale, folded crease down, upright in a bowl while you fill the rest.
5.  Line your slow cooker with tin foil and add 3.5 cups of water, and press a tin pie plate with holes punched out into the slow cooker, to create a base for the tamales to be stacked on, while letting the steam through.  Arrange the tamales working from the outside edge first, so that the last tamales you put in are at the centre, then tuck a few tamale wrappers over the top, replace the lid and cook on high for 4 - 6  hours, with the lid weighed down if necessary. 
It's worth noting that the tamales on the outside of the slow cooker will cook a little faster, so switch them around during cooking to ensure that the steaming process is even.  Serve with an avocado and black bean salad with onions, cilantro, and chopped tomato, and a squeeze of lime.  This recipe is pretty classic but with dozens of variations including fruit and vegetarian versions, everyone can find a tamale to love!
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Watch the video below to see this recipe in action.
Resources mymexicanrecipes
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