Recipe - Chilahuates (Banana Leaf Wrapped Tamales)

1 cup Black beans
4 cup Masa harina
One half cup Vegetable shortening
2 cup Vegetable broth; lukewarm
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking powder
3 Banana leaves
One fourth cup Vegetable oil
1 Garlic clove; finely chopped
One half cup Scallions; finely chopped
1 Chayote squash; finely
chopped
6 Jalapeno chiles; stemmed and
finely chopped
One half cup Almonds; blanched and finely
chopped
One fourth cup Chopped fresh cilantro
Salt; to taste

Put the beans in a medium pot, add water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the
heat and simmer, covered, for 12 hours (depending on the size and age of
the beans). The beans are cooked when their skins break easily when
stirred.

In a mixing bowl, beat the masa harina with the vegetable shortening,
alternating with the broth until it is light, about 10 minutes. Add the
salt and baking powder. Beat 2 minutes more.

Clean and boil or char the banana leaves (if you can't find them already
precooked). Trim out the hard veins and cut the leaves into approximately
810" squares.

Heat the oil in a skillet and saut‚ the garlic and scallions until golden.
Add the chayote, chiles, almonds, cilantro, and beans. Mix completely,
stirring and cooking everything together. Season with salt to taste.

On a banana leaf square spread out a little less than One half cup of the masa
harina like a pancake. Top with approximately 2 tsp. of the vegetable/bean
mixture. Fold over the leaf like a package and repeat with the remaining
leaves and filling. Place the tamales in a steamer, overlapping them
diagonally to allow steam to pass through, cover the pot and steam for at
least 1 One half hours, checking the water level from time to time.

(Peel away the leaf and only eat the filling.) Serve with tomatillo or
chipotle chile salsa, accompanied by Atole (a hot masabased drink) for
authenticity.

[ SOURCE 1998Ap http://www.melissas.com/ ] Hanneman/Buster

Recipe by: A Cook's Tour of Mexico by Nancy Zaslavsky

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by KitPATh phannema@wizard.ucr.edu on Apr 17,
1998