109. Vegan Tamales (in Banana leaves)

Updated at: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 11:16:43 GMT

Step 1

First, make the chilli purée. Dry toast the chillies in a small pot for one minute, before covering them in water and adding the onion and garlic. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until everything is soft. Cool somewhat, then remove the contents, and blend with the apple cider vinegar, a generous pinch of salt, and about 3 tablespoons of the chilli liquid. Make a smooth purée and set aside.

Step 2

Make the filling for the tamales, by sautéing the onion, garlic, zucchini and carrot in a pan until nicely softened. Add the bouillon cube and beans, adding water whenever it’s looking a bit dry. When you can no longer discern the individual vegetables, it’s just about ready. Squish some of the pinto beans with your spoon so the mixture thickens, and is thick enough to stay where it is when moved around the pan. Stir through as much of the chilli purée for flavour as you’d like - mine had to be child-friendly, so I only used about 3 tablespoons. Take off the heat and cool it down.

Step 3

In a stand mixer (or by hand if you want a workout), combine the flour, water, oil and salt. Add 1-2 tablespoons of the chilli purée for colour. You’re after a magical consistency that is both sticky, yet comes away from the sides of the bowl if coaxed. I can only describe it as a step softer and stickier than Play-doh.

Step 4

Now it’s time to wrap the tamales. Cut off the hard edge of the banana leaves, then unroll them and cut rectangles about the size of a laptop screen or a large iPad. Spread a dollop of dough on the flat side of the banana leaf, against one edge but about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the way down. A spatula would work for this, but I found my plastic rice paddle even better. Then spoon a heaped tablespoon of the cooled filling in the middle, leaving some room either side. Then bring the sides of the banana leaf in toward the centre so the masa harina mix folds over the filling - this is why the filling needs to be both sticky *and* non-stick. Trust me, when you do it, you’ll understand. If you’re lost, you may need to watch a YouTube video of these being made. Once it’s wrapped into a tube, fold the unfilled part of the banana leaf around to form the bottom of the tamale. Then tie it off, either with a strip of banana leaf, or with twine, like I did. When you’ve used up all your dough and filling, you’re done.

Step 5

Any offcuts of banana leaf will come in handy. If you’ve got a deep steamer, great. If you don’t, like me, here’s a trick. Get a deep pot, and crumple the off cuts of banana leaf in the bottom, and fill with some water, maybe a quarter full. Then arrange the tamales, standing upright in the pot so they don’t get waterlogged. Put a lid on, and bring the water to the boil. Let the tamales steam in this pot for about 30-45 minutes. While they’re steaming, get the salsa together and stir through the lime juice, and season with a little pinch of salt. Serve both together!

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