Vegan Tamales

Step 1

Place the husks in a large bowl and cover with hot/boiling water. Let them soak for at least 30 minutes. Make sure you have a few extra husks to use during the cooking process.

Step 2

In a large bowl, combine and mix all the dry ingredients (Masa, Baking Powder, Salt, Cumin).

Step 3

Pour in the oil and the veggie stock and mix with a spatula. You want the consistency to be like soft ice cream - smooth and creamy. I ended up adding a little more water, about a Tablespoon at a time to get the batter just right.

Step 4

Roast the poblano peppers either in the broiler or over an open flame. You want to char the skin of the pepper all around. Remove from heat and let cool.

Step 5

Once the peppers have cooled, remove the stem and seeds and peel off the charred skin. Chip the pepper into small pieces.

Step 6

Peel and dice the onion into small pieces.

Step 7

Open the black beans and the corn, drain and rinse.

Step 8

In a large frying pan, spray with avocado oil or any light oil.

Step 9

Saute the onion until soft and add the Chili Powder and the Cumin.

Step 10

Add the poblano peppers, black beans and corn. Saute for about 5 minutes to infuse the flavors and get warm. Remove from heat and set aside.

Step 11

Lay open one of the corn husks. Place about 3 T of Masa in the center of the corn husk. Use your fingers to spread out the masa. This will take a little trial and error to get the size of the masa just right.

Step 12

Once the masa is evenly spread out, place about 2 T of the filling mixture in the center of the masa and sprinkle some vegan cheese on top.

Step 13

Fold the left side of the corn husk over towards the center and them fold the right side over sealing in the masa and filling. Fold the bottom up and leave the top open. Lay the tamale on a tray with the seams facing down.

Step 14

In a steam pot, fill with water below the level of the steamer and bring to a boil. In the steamer, place a layer of corn husks on the bottom and place your tamales in - I have done them laying down and standing up and both worked fine.

Step 15

Cover with a wet towel or a lid and steam them for 60 to 75 minutes. Keep checking your water level and add more as needed. You can check to see if they are done by removing one tamale and gently unfolding it. If the masa easily pulls away from the corn husk it is done.

Step 16

Serve with your favorite salsa and enjoy.