Recipe - Exotic Tamales - Part 5 Of 7 - Spot Prawn Tamales

One half cup Whole dried ancho chiles
2 qt Water
One half pound Roma tomatoes
2 Cloves garlic; roasted and
peeled
1 Three fourths cup Fresh pineapple; minced
One half pound Ripe bananas
1 lg Green apple; peeled, cored
and chopped
3 tablespoon Canela (or 1One half tablespoons
cinnamon)
1 tablespoon Cider vinegar
1 pn Ground clove
One fourth teaspoon Ground allspice
2 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Piloncillo or brown sugar
3 tablespoon Peanut oil or lard

Remove stems and seeds from chiles. With a comal or black iron skillet,
roast chiles for 5 minutes. Shake once or twice and do not allow to
blacken. Add to the water in a covered pan and simmer on very low heat for
30 minutes to rehydrate. Place chiles, tomatoes and remaining ingredients
in a blender or food processor and pure. If necessary, add a little of the
soaking liquid. Taste the chile water first; if it is not bitter, use it,
otherwise add plain water.

Add oil or lard to a highsided pan and heat until almost smoking. Refry
sauce at a sizzle for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly.

Note: Literally, Manchamantel means "tablecloth stainer". This sauce, with
its red chile, is likely to stain a few palates along the way! It is a
classic fruitandchile sauce from Central Mexico that goes wonderfully
well with pork and shrimp dishes.

Its natural sweetness, hotness, form and texture is akin to an oldstyle
Cantonese sweetandsour sauce.

While this recipe contains bananas and pineapple, other combinations of
ripe fruit such as apples and peaches can also be used. If you cannot get
CANELA, which is the form of cinnamon commonly used in Mexico, ordinary
cinnamon can be substituted, but cut the amount in half.

Busted and entered for you by: Bill Webster
Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #887 by Bill Webster thelma@pipeline.com on
Nov 07, 1997