masa for tamales

Masa for Tamales

Holidays Recipes

Description

Roll up your sleeves and let’s learn how to make masa for tamales! This light, fluffy corn masa dough is essential for creating crowd-pleasing tamales every time. All you need are a handful of ingredients and a little bit of patience to create this authentic Mexican dish.

Ingreadient

2 cups lard room temperature
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp kosher salt
8 cups Maseca – Instant corn masa mix (2 pounds)
1 cup chile rojo sauce from Chili Colorado
7 cups water or reserved cooking liquid from meat filling of choice, broth, water or combination.

Direction

Rule of thumb: 1 cup maseca to 1 cup liquid (reserved cooking liquid from meat filling of choice, broth, water or combination).
In a large bowl or mixer, whip the lard until it's light and airy, almost like cake frosting before adding the baking powder and salt.
Add 1 cup of the maseca and 1 cup of chili rojo sauce (or cooking liquid from filling of choice). Alternate 1 cup maseca to 1 cup liquid until all 8 cups are mixed together. Beat 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
You are looking for spreadable smooth consistency — think spreadable hummus. If the dough is too dry, add more liquid. If it's too wet, add more maseca.
Float Test: Grab a teaspoon of the mixed masa and drop it into a glass of cold water. If it floats it's mixed well and light. If it sinks, it needs more mixing.
Cover and let rest for 30 minutes to fully hydrate. Use the dough immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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