Tamale Dough

I’m no tamale expert, unless you count eating them, but last year I adopted the tradition of making tamales for Christmas using Anna Zepaltas recipe (I really liked hers because it used part butter and part lard, rather than the traditional all lard. I think the flavor makes a superior tamale dough). I had never hosted Christmas dinner before and it was a cold December day. I wanted the excuse to hold people captive drinking margaritas all day and playing board games and I’d always wanted to undertake the challenge of tamale making. It was a hugely successful, immensely fun, and seriously challenging undertaking. And I learned a lot. Last year made this year possible, and I have to say that now that I’ve done it twice, I feel confident in my ability to help others make them successfully, and certain that this is well on its way to becoming a yearly tradition. The tamales and salsas are amazing and the day is indeed lots of fun. By breaking the steps down over a couple of days, you’ll make your tamale party fun and low stress. Start with the tamale dough, a few days ahead. It stores well. I make this recipe three times, one batch for each of my three fillings. Then I make LOTS of tamales since I have all that free labor and I store the extras. They freeze well and it’s fun to have a beautiful and ready-made meal all set to go in the freezer. And the Tamale Dough is the key to getting it all going for a Hot Tamale! Party.

3 ½ cups masa harina for tamales
3 cups very hot water
½ pound lard (rendered pig fat)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 cup chicken stock

You’ll notice I’ve changed the order the ingredients are added. This is to minimize dishes. I couldn’t see a difference and I’m all about fewer dishes. Put the masa in the mixing bowl with the paddle attachment.  Mix a few times. “Stir” the hot water into the masa until evenly moistened- just until you have smooth dough. Next beat the lard and softened butter in on medium-low speed until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add the salt and baking powder and beat at medium-low speed until incorporated. Pour in the stock in a steady stream.  Beat until the dough is fluffy and soft, about 2 minutes; it should have the consistency of thick corn bread batter. Refrigerate the tamale dough in the bowl for 30 minutes or up to 3 days. When you’re ready to make the tamales, take them out of the refrigerator a couple of hours in advance so it starts to come to room temperature. Then return the dough to the mixer bowl and beat the dough at high speed for 1 minute before assembling the tamales.