Made my first ever vegetarian tamale!

My great grandma taught me how to make chicken and pork tamales, but this year I endeavored to make a vegetarian tamale for my best friend.

My sister in law showed me how to fold the tamales without needing to the them. I have always tied the tamales as that is how I was taught.
The masa is store bought. The sauce posed the most difficulty as I had never worked without a meat stock.

I doctored up the store bought vegetable stock by simmering it with onion, garlic, bay leaves, carrots, cumin, oregano, anatto, california Chile powder, and then used to make the sauce.

The sauce is a roux with a can of tomato sauce and the stock slowly added. Additional chili powder, salt, cumin, pepper, and cayenne added for taste. At the end I felt it was too acidic and placed a tablespoon of butter and a pinch of baking soda to counter it.

The insides are par boiled potatoes and carrots sauteed with butter and oregano, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, and anatto. Jack cheese and black olives with a dollop of sauce.

We tested 4 out tonight for dinner so I didnt waste my time assembling them if they were gross.

These freeze well and will make meals for a long time.

They were delicious! We’ll probably make enchiladas with it if there are any leftovers.