Tamales Tolimenses (Tolima Region Tamales)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of pork ribs cut into small pieces
- 12 pieces of chicken
- 1 pound pork belly cut into small pieces
- 4 medium potatoes peeled and sliced
- 2 large carrots peeled and sliced
- 6 cooked eggs sliced
- 1 cup peas
- 3 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- Place all the marinade ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Reserve ½ cup of the marinade to prepare the masa.
- In a large plastic bowl place all the meat, add 1 ½ cups of the marinade. Mix well, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- To prepare the masa: Place the masarepa in a large bowl, add the water, salt, sazon Goya or color and reserved marinade. Mix well with a wooden spoon or your hands.
- Wash the leaves well with hot water and set aside.
- To assemble the tamales: Place 1 piece of the leaf on a work surface and place a second leaf on top, pointing in the opposite direction, like forming a cross.
- . Spread ½ cup of masa and about ¼ cup of rice in the center of the banana leaves, at the point where they connect and form a cross. Place, 1 piece pork belly, 1 piece of chicken and 1 piece of rib on top of the masa and place about 1 tablespoon of peas, 1 or 2 slices of carrots and 2 slices of potatoes on top of the meat.
- Bring the corners of the banana leaves up to the middle of the filling, and tie it with butcheru2019s string right above the filling, so that there is a tuft of leaves above the string (see picture). Continue the process until all the tamales are wrapped and tied.
- Bring a large pot with salted water to a boil. Add the tamales and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 2 hours. Remove the tamales from the pot and let them sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Cut the stirring and serve in the leaves. Serve hogao on the side if desired.
Tamal is an important dish in Colombian cuisine and you'll find them on almost all traditional Colombian restaurant menus. There are many different variations of tamales throughout the country. Tamales Tolimense is a recipe I have been planning to share with you for some time now.
The filling in this tamal is chicken, pork belly, pork ribs, boiled egg, carrots, peas, potatoes, rice, condiments, and masa, all wrapped with plantain leaves. In the Tolima region of Colombia it is traditional to eat Tamal Tolimense for breakfast with hot chocolate and arepa.
Tamal is a dish loved all around Colombia, and I want to share all of the many variations with you. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!
Marinade:4 garlic cloves1 large green bell pepper, chopped4 tablespoons ground cuminSalt
Masa:5 cups chicken stock
SaltWrapping:String
Water and Salt to cook the tamales
ligia crane
muchas gracias yo he estado viviendo en el estado de n.y. por 38 anos y he tenido muchotrabajo consiguiendo las recetas colombianas mi madre que era una excelente cocinera murio un mes antes de que mi hija naciera, y yo perdi el deseo de volver o comer comida COLOMBIANA ELLA me habia enviado todas las recetas en cada una de sus cartas pero mi suegra me voto todas sus cartas en la basura perdiendo asi ls mejores recetas de colombia.hata ahora enconttre este site y llore mucho encontrando algo quqe hab ia buscado practicamente toda mi vida especialmente cerca de las navidades me da mucho anoro por la comida de un lougar que fue mi patria donde yo naci. mil gracias a todos usteds por compaartir sus recetas y recuerdos de su patria ,muchos de los colombianos que he comocido en este pais me han dado las recetas mal o nome las han dado que trsteza pero ahoara es difente se ve que las personas cambian mil fgracias por todoy con mucha gratitud por ofrecer algo muy bello la comida colombiana que Dios los bendigan ligia
Carlos Contreras
Hola, que bueno saber que hay personas como usted que quieren conocer cosas de mi hermoso pais, le cuento que he vivido aqui por 13 anhos, pero aprendi mucho en mi pais, mi esposa es colombiana, del Tolima, y hacemos tamales por encargo, mas omenos una vez al mes aqui en Elizabeth, nj, somos muchos los colombianos aqui. en muchos supermercados hispanos se consigue casi todo para preparar recetas colombianas. mucha suerte.
Oysterculture
What an incredible combination of flavors. I love each ingredient individually, but this is truly the case where the sum far exceeds the individual parts. Amazing, thats all I can say.
Mely (Mexico in my kitchen)
Great tamales. I love that they have pork and chicken with vegetables.
Mely
Mely (Mexico in my kitchen)
Great job with the tamales. Me imagino que deben de tner una gran variedad de tamales en Colombia al igual que en Mexico. Nunca me imagine que usaran la masa para arepas para los tamales. Estoy aprendiendo mucho en tu bog.
Saludos,
Mley
Jeannie
That looks so flavorful! Am sure it makes a great meal on its own..yummy!
Francijoe
Could you give me the link for your mom´s
Erica
Francjoe- https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/moms-colombian-tamales-tamales-colombianos-de-mi-mama/
rose
Do you actually put the whole tamale into the pot of water??? not just steam them on a rack? THE COLORS AND TEXTURES ARE ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL and thank you for sharing your photos and step x step!
Erica
Rose- Yes, I put them in the water....like my mom 🙂
Erica
Francijoe- The other 1/2 cup is for the meat.
Francijoe
Do you use all the Marinade for masa. I see you said a half cup for the masa. Where do you use the other masa?
Francijoe
I love a good temal.... and its get time to have them.. My mother in law makes them for New years. What about the other one from Colombia? I really like to make a dish with a recipe....
Erica
Francijoe- Did you check my mom's tamales recipe?
norma
I am crazy about tamales. We have our version which is the "pasteles" that are only made during the holidays, Nov-Jan. I refuse to make them unless I have volunteers as it takes many hours to prepare.
I have never heard of this version. I would enjoy this one as it has lots of meat. As they say in my country "no esta siego".
tasteofbeirut
I would love to taste this tamal; learn how to make it too!
Kim
Erica - What a presentation! It's like opening a present. I love the variety of ingredients in these tamales.
I've been looking for pork belly. Where did you find yours?
Erica
Kim- I find pork belly at my local market, but usually you can find it at Latin American markets.
Chef E
I love this concept- I would like to try one some day!
Oscar Quintero
I'm opita and I made these for my family on Christmas and they loved them! Gracias!
Faith
What a delicious tamale! I love how it's a full meal all in one little bundle!
Claudia
That is a festival of flavors. I've never had anything like it and am sorry - because I love everything in it. Plantains are readily available in MN but have never seen the leaves.
kelly
Claudia, do you have the Mexican Mercados where you live? Worth seeking them out... we live in a small town yet we do have some here (granted, we're somewhat more close to S.A. than MN is!)