Here’s a twist on traditional tamales. This recipe is from La Gloria at Pearl Chef Johnny Hernandez. The chicken mole tamales are wrapped with banana leaves.
Mix together all ingredients until you reach a dough consistency. Shape masa into 4oz balls.
Chicken Mole
In a large pot, boil chicken with the onion, bay leaves, celery, salt and pepper until fully cooked. De-bone the chicken and shred. Reserve some chicken stock to adjust the consistency of the mole. Add prepared mole to the chicken.
Banana Leaves
Cut into 8.5” x 11” sheets (about the size of a sheets of letter size paper)
Carefully warm the leaves over a stove to make pliable.
Cook Time
Arrange assembled tamales in a double boiler with steaming capability. Cover the top of the tamales with extra banana leaves, then cover with the lid or with aluminum foil. Steam for 30 to 1 hour depending on thickness of tamales.
Yields 12 tamales
Ingredients
Masa for Tamales
- 2 lbs masa (ground corn)
- 4 oz vegetable shortening
- ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking powder
Chicken Mole
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 Onion
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 celery stalk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 8-10oz Prepared Mole
- Banana Leaves
- (Can be purchased at most grocery stores)