Tamales

Ingredients

3 cups rice 7 cups coconut milk 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp. black pepper Salt to taste 1/4 cup achuete for coloring soaked in 1/4 cup water 1 cup ground toasted peanuts Slices of hard-cooked egg Boiled peanuts Banana leaves, cleaned and softened over direct fire Boiled chicken meat (breast meat preferred) Slices of boiled pork Boiled whole shrimps Slices of boiled ham

Procedure:

Toast the rice in a griddle pan until brown. Grind to fine powder in a stone or corn-meal grinder. Put the coconut milk, salt, sugar, pepper and ground rice in a carajay, and cook over low heat. Stir constantly to prevent sticking and burning. Add the ground peanuts five minutes before removing from fire. Divide this paste mixture into two parts leaving one part in the carajay. Add strained achuete coloring to the mixture in the carajay and continue cooking for 2 minutes longer.

On three layers of banana leaves, put 3 tablespoons of the red mixture, then an equal amount of the white mixture, pat lightly to flatten, then arrange slices of boiled chicken, boiled pork, ham, shrimps, halves of boiled peanuts and hard cooked eggs on top of mixture. Wrap each "tamale" and tie securely. Place the wrapped "tamales" in a deep steamer and cook for 2 hours. If no steamer is available, place the wrapped tamales in a saucepan. Fill the saucepan 1/2 full of water and cook, well covered, for about an hour or more. Cool. "Tamales" will stay fresh 24 hours if kept in a cook place.