Humintas a la Olla - Boiled Corn Tamales

In Bolivia there are two ways to make humintas, boiled or baked. You'll find the recipe for Baked Humintas (Humintas al Horno) here. Humintas are very similar to Mexican tamales without the meat filling.


Ingredients:

8-10 corn husks
4 cups of corn kernels, boiled and ground into a paste
3/4 cup of hot melted shortening
5 tablespoons of powdered hot red pepper
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of anise seed
1 dry white cheese, cut into strips
Salt to taste

Instructions:

Purchase corn on the cob for this recipe (not corn kernels in a can) because you will need the corn husks for wrapping the huminta. Cut the kernels off the cob and boil until soft. Grind the corn in a food processor or blender.

In a bowl, mix the ground corn, anise, sugar and salt. Add the hot melted shortening and the powdered chili pepper. Mix well with a wooden spoon or with your hands until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Wash the corn husks and fill them with the corn mix which at this point should resemble a thick paste. Place a strip of cheese on top. You can use mozarella but a very white cheese (similar to fresh mozarella or Mexican 'cacique' cheese) works better. Wrap up the corn husks using left-over strips of husk to tie around and form a little package as seen in the photo above.

Boil for about 1/2 an hour until the corn mix is cooked through and the cheese has melted.