vegan tamales

for some weird reason I've been wanting to experiment with making tamales - but I'd like to make them less fatty. after a lot of looking around at different recipes, I found the following - this is copied direct from isa's post on the ppk forum:


Everyday Chipotle Vegetable Tamales
Makes 24-30 tamales (or 18 largish ones!)

This tamale recipe is as flexible as you want it to be; add roasted corn kernels, finely chopped chilies or scallions to the dough if you feel like it. I’ve kept the filling a basic bean, peppers and corn with essential addition of smoky chipotle chilies in spicy adobo sauce. Seasonal vegetables like zucchini, finely chopped steamed pumpkin, poblano chilies and even small bits of sautéed seitan would make perfect additions too.

Tamale Tips:
Canned chipotles in adobo sauce, corn husks and masa harina can be found in most large groceries with an “ethnic” section nowadays. Larger Latin American stores may have everything in stock too, as well as gourmet stores. Be sure to get masa harina mix (ground corn flour specially treated with lime water); don’t substitute with corn meal, it simply is not the same and will not work!

While preparing the dough and filling is simple enough I will not lie to you; tamale assembly can be tedious work. Don’t do it on 2 hours of sleep after pulling an all nighter, or an hour before that big date or before surgery. Enlist the help of a dear friend and promise them the warm, soul-embracing experience of eating adorably wrapped handmade tamales bursting with vegan love. Which means you’ll have to give them a few you greedy mustard.

Tamales freeze well after steaming, just wrap tightly in paper and pack in freezer bags.

If you can’t find dried corn husks for wrapping the tamales is, less attractive substitutes might be tinfoil or wax paper.

Dough:

4 Cups Masa Harina tamale flour
1/4 Cup olive or good quality corn oil
2 tsp. Baking powder
4 Cups vegetable broth, water or a combination of the two, warmed my note: I used our veg broth - note that this may change the color of the masa!
Salt to taste (needed less if using all broth) my note: for me this was about 1/2 tsp. but I tend not to cook with salt, and add it later, and there is no salt in our home made broth. this amount was fine.

Chipotle bean filling:

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped small
1 small carrot, peeled and diced small
1 Cup frozen corn kernels
1 15oz. Can pinto or black beans, drained & rinsed
1/4 C veggie broth or water
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced, plus 1-2 T of adobo sauce (from a 7oz can of chipotles in sauce)
3 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt to taste

Dried corn husks for wrapping tamales

First, place corn husks (you don’t need to separate them just now) in a pot large enough to cover completely with water. Cover with warm water and allow to soak for at least 20 minutes till husks are soft and pliable. Keep covered in water entire time as you use them. my note: I used the sink, and put a dinner plate on top of the husks to keep them immersed. Another recipe I looked at called for a 2-hour soak. The briefer soaking time works well, mostly - but not for all the husks. Make sure to gently separate these after they've been soaking for a while.

In a large bowl combine masa harina, broth or water, salt, baking powder and oil. Stir to mix with a large spatula. If you have an electric mixer (hand or otherwise) now is the time to use it. Beat the mixture till it forms a dense, moist, fluffy dough and the side of the bowls are clean. If you don’t have a mixer beat it like hell with that spatula. Tamale dough steams up extra light and puffy when beat with an electric mixer but still tastes great when beat by hand. Cover bowl containing dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel and set aside.

my note: I did not use this filling recipe, but used another one.
In a large heavy bottom skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes. Add pepper and carrot and sauté for 3 minutes, then add beans, corn, broth, chipotles (the more chipotles and sauce the hotter) and adobo sauce, tomato paste and cumin. Sautee and simmer till most of liquid evaporates, about 8 minutes. Salt to taste and allow to cool before assembling tamales.

Depending the size of the corn husks you will need to use 1-2 husks per tamale. There are a billion ways to wrap a tamale: I like this way since it’s simple and makes super-cute traditional tamale shapes. Take corn husk and lay flat; spread about 2 T of dough about off-center, leaving about an inch and a half of space on the top and bottom. Spread a heaping tablespoon of filling on top, and on top of that dab about 1 T more of dough. Carefully roll up tamale, making sure to completely encase filling in corn husk. Tie both ends securely with either heavy duty kitchen string (maybe try different colors for different flavors), or simply tear a corn husk lenghth-wise into thin strips.

Prepare a large steamer basket and loosely pack tamales into it. Steam for 35-40 minutes. Tamales will expand and feel firm to the touch when done. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before serving (they will be really hot when unwrapped!). Serve with your favorite salsa, guacamole or make a whole affair out of it and serve with sides of rice and beans.

Sauce for tamales

I found a terrific recipe that I will use for other things. It would be fantastic over rice or roasted vegetables, I know it would be, or as a taco or hamburger topping. I'm thinking about using it to fill some calzones today.

Sweet and Smokey Chipotle Sauce
from Vegetarian Journal 2006, Issue 4 my note: this recipe includes the very simple recipe for the sweet potato filling I used, but I added adobo and sauteed onion.

(Makes filling for 36 tamales)

Though this tomato-based sauce is quite spicy, there is sweet relief in the sweet potatoes and molasses.
Sauce

* One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
* 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (available in the international foods aisle of many supermarkets), minced my note: use all 3!
* 2 teaspoons leftover adobo sauce
* 2 Tablespoons molasses
* 1/4 cup orange juice my note: I skipped this as I didn't want that sweetish note (figuring the molasses would suffice), and I'm glad I did. I added an extra splash of broth, instead.
* Olive oil to cover bottom of medium-sized skillet
* 1 medium-sized onion, preferably a sweet variety
* 4 garlic cloves, crushed
* Salt to taste
* 1 teaspoon cumin
* 1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro

In a large saucepan, combine crushed tomatoes, peppers, adobo sauce, molasses, and orange juice. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer.

While the tomato sauce is simmering, pour oil into a medium-sized pan and sauté onions, garlic, and salt. When onions are slightly brown, add the pan’s contents to the tomato sauce. Add cumin and cilantro and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Pour sauce into a food processor or blender and purée until smooth.

Afternotes

Because I've been having problems with the soy and beans I've been eating (hello again, colitis), I decided to fill the tamales with a sweet potato recipe I'd found elsewhere - turns out you can vary tamale recipes infinitely. That was just 2 sweet potatoes, baked til well done, then mashed with just a little salt. I added about a tablespoon of adobo sauce, and maybe 3/4 of a large onion, sauteed til soft.

I used Isa's recipe for the masa, and varied the sauce recipe by adding another 3/4 of a large onion, sauteed - this sauce truly rocks! Use the full complement of 3 chipotles - you won't be sorry! We ate this with a side of steamed quinoa, with half a bag of frozen spinach thrown in at the last - that was super, with the great sauce on it especially!

However, the filling was not such a success. The mashed sweet potatoes just don't have enough substance for me - too mushy, and I don't really like that sweetish taste in there. I do have some thoughts about what to do next time (and there will be one - this may seem time consuming, but it's well worth it). I'd like to try using something that gets firmer, but not as firm as the masa when it's cooked. I am considering crumbled tempeh, mixed with onion, garlic, and chipotle, so it's a good thickish paste (you want something that's roughly the consistency of mashed potatoes. in fact, I think if you took some leftover spicy chilli and added some kind of thickener (nooch, rice, masa) or even just mashed the beans up a bit, you'd have something really delicious. Other ideas: greens! quinoa with greens and sauce! oh yeah.

Even better might be to use a variation of Julie Hassan's sausage mix as I did for the tortellini filling (scroll down to see the variation I used for tortellini, with added spinach and nutritional yeast), spicing it with cumin and chili powder and garlic, maybe mixing in minced onion and pickled jalapeno bits. Imagine that against the creamy, firm cornmeal coating, covered by the sauce - I think this might be a winner.