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Colombian Tamales

Name: Colombian Tamales
Total time: 150 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Colombia
Ingredients: 500g Precooked Corn Flour; 150g Pork Fat (or butter); 400g Bone-In Chicken; 300g Pork; 3 Potato; 2 Carrot; 100g Chickpeas (canned); 8 leaves Banana Leaves; 1 tsp Cumin; 1 tsp Achiote

Main Dish

⏱ 150 min

👥 Serves 6

Difficulty ⭐⭐⭐

Corn dough filled with meat and vegetables and steamed in banana leaves — a festive Colombian tradition.

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📖 The Story Behind This Dish

Colombian tamales are made all over the country: a dough of cornmeal and lard is filled generously with chicken, pork, potato, carrot, and chickpeas, wrapped in banana leaves, and steamed for hours. Families make them in huge batches for Christmas and New Year, and they're a symbol of Colombian food culture.

🌆 Where it's eaten: Before Christmas in a Colombian home, the whole family wraps dough and fillings in banana leaves and steams them for hours — a year-end ritual.

🥕 Ingredients (serves 6)

Precooked Corn Flour 500g
Pork Fat (or butter) 150g
Bone-In Chicken 400g
Pork 300g
Potato 3
Carrot 2
Chickpeas (canned) 100g
Banana Leaves 8 leaves
Cumin 1 tsp
Achiote 1 tsp

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Mix cornmeal with lard, chicken stock, and achiote into a soft dough.
Season the chicken and pork with cumin and other spices.
Lay out banana leaves, spread with dough, top with meat, potato, carrot, and chickpeas, and wrap.
Tie securely with string and steam in a large pot for at least 2 hours.
Open the leaves to serve.

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