These are fried, baked, boiled or steamed corn dough
pastries made from fresh corn on the cob. My recipe is written specifically
for steamed. Also, Bolivians do not use measurements when cooking. All of my
measurements were made by sight as they were mixed in. The final check for
this dish is, as the Bolivians like to say, “a tú gusto”, or in English “to
your own taste”.
Serves 4 to 5 people.
12 ears of corn
1½C – sugar
2½T – salt
3t – powdered cinnamon
1 lb. – Mozzarella
1C – shortening
Before taking the husk off of each ear of corn, cut circularly around the
bottom of the ear so that when you remove each leaf of the husk, it forms a
triangle. These leaves will be used to wrap and then tie the humintas.
After removing all the husks, remove the kernels by cutting them off with a
sharp knife and collect them in a large bowl. These kernels then need to be
ground into a paste. If you do not have a grinder, a blender will work. Put
the corn paste back into the bowl and mix in about 1½ cups sugar, 2½
tablespoons of salt, 3 teaspoons of powered cinnamon and about one cup of
melted shortening, more may be needed. Augment these quantities as you see
fit. The final paste should taste very sweet with a strong hint of salt.
Some Bolivians also like to add anise. After these ingredients have been
added to your liking, pour in and mix about 1 pound of cheese. The cheese
can be of your choice, but I feel mozzarella will taste really good. The
cheeses used in Bolivia are home made and have a strong cheese taste, are
salty and if fresh, creamy. The cheese should be cubed or shredded.
To make the binding cords take a corn husk leaf and rip it in half, from the
wide base to its point. At the top of each new triangle (the more acute of
the three points) tie a knot. Then rip the leaf in half again up to the
knot, which will keep the leaf from ripping completely in half.
To wrap the humintas, place two leaves on a plate, one on top of the other
facing in opposite directions with only about 1.5 inches overlapping. Place
approximately ¼ - ⅓ of a cup of the humintas dough in the middle of the
leaves. Fold the top leaf up and over the dough, and then fold the lower
leaf up and over that. Roll the sides up and tie tightly using corn husk
cord.
To cook the humintas, line the bottom of a large pot with one layer of
corncobs. Place the wrapped humintas on top and pour in 2 - 3 cups of
boiling water. The water should not come above the level of the cobs. Cover
the pot and boil the water for about 30 minutes. Humintas are done when they
are soft yet firm.
Source: Patrick Murray, PCV Bolivia |
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NOTE: This
is a recipe for making a large amount of salteñas, exactly as we made in
Monteagudo, Bolivia, so if you want to make less then you have to do some
calculations, you know, use 1/3 of everything. Good luck!!
DOUGH (made at least 2 hours in advance, or the day before)
5 cups (1 kilo) Flour
3/4 cup Sugar
Shortening (one of those Bolivian bags, I don't know how much....sorry, use
trial and error)
3 Eggs
Water
Mix the flour and sugar, make a mound, and then make a hole in the middle.
Heat the shortening until melted (appears clear), add some yellow coloring
(if you desire). Dump the shortening (VERY HOT) in the middle of the
flour/sugar mixture and mix carefully. The dough should feel like soft sand,
so add more flour if necessary. Form a mound with a hole in the middle, like
before, and crack the eggs and a few pinches of salt into the hole. Add
water (room temp) until good consistency and KNEAD KNEAD KNEAD. Roll the
dough into little golf size balls. You can then keep the dough balls in a
plastic bag or wrap them in a damp cloth and store in the fridge over night.
JIGOTE (filling) **made the day before**
* you'll have to use trial & error to figure out the amounts*
chicken or meat
onion
potato
peas
parsley
green onion
olives (green or black)
raisins (optional)
shortening (half bag) or oil
ground red pepper (ají)
gelatin without flavor (1 package, 60grams)
ground cumin
ground black pepper
1st part (made day before):
Boil chicken with a little salt, and then shred the chicken. Save the broth,
you'll need it later!! If using meat, don't cook it beforehand, you add it
to the "veggie mix" later. Chop all ingredients into small pieces. Boil
potatoes for 5 minutes, and I guess set them aside, I'm not sure when they
come back into the picture, sorry. In another pot cook the shortening (or
oil) on high heat with the ground red peeper (ají). Then add the onion,
parsley, peas (these might need to be cooked beforehand a little, peas are
tough), ground cumin, ground black pepper and salt. Add meat at this point
if you're making meat salteñas. Cook 20-30 minutes, until "dry", then add
some chicken broth and sugar. It makes a soupy consistency. If making meat
ones, just add water, beef broth preferable. Add more broth as needed. Let
boil. Add shredded chicken and the gelatin. Cook 20 minutes, more or less.
At some point I think we threw the potatoes in but I’m not sure where. Store
this mixture overnight in the fridge.
2nd part (made day of)
Boil eggs, and then slice them. Roll dough balls into flat ovals, not too
thin. On the rolled dough place a couple spoonfuls of filling, a raisin, an
olive and sliced egg. Put a little water on your finger and run it along the
edge of half the rolled dough, fold the dough over and close it by pinching
the edges together like a little piecrust. Fold under and away from your
body.
Bake!! (Maybe around 350F)
Source: Patrick Murray, PCV Bolivia |
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Makes 7-9
rellenos
6 potatoes
stuffing
1 medium onions
1 clove garlic
½ red and or green bell pepper diced(optional)
oil
1/4 lb. ground meat
1 t. cumin/salt/pepper
1-2 roma tomatoes
cheese (if vegetarian, or I guess you could also add
it to the meat version)
coating
1 C flour
2 eggs
bread crumbs
Boil and make mash potatoes. The recipe called for eggs in the mash
potatoes, if the potatoes are moldable w/out the egg then try it.
Salt/pepper the mash potatoes.
Sauté onions, garlic and bell peppers. Add the ground beef. Add cumin and
salt. Once the meat is cooked add one to two Roma tomatoes. Be careful, you
don't want the mixture too watery. Cook it for 5-10 minutes.
Flatten a small ball of mash potatoes on the palm of your hand for the top
and put it aside. Flatten another ball on your hand and put one heaping
teaspoon of the stuffing in the center. Then add the top and try to seal the
edges, not too important if it gets a little messy. Make all the balls and
then you can do the coating.
Beat eggs, season as desired and add little water. Place egg, flour and
bread crumbs in 3 separate bowls near prep area.
Dip relleno in flour, shake off the excess flour, then dip the relleno in
the egg mixture, and then bread crumbs.
Then you either fry them (better tasting and texture but high caloric count)
or bake them (healthier and easier if doing a lot of them). When I baked
them I put some oil on my hands and then handled each relleno to get some
oil on them and try to make them a bit
crunchy. Bake in a hot oven, around 400 degrees and try it
for 30 minutes, checking them.
Source: Ana Zambie; recipe by Laura Cangas.
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