Homemade Tamales

4-5 Pounds of Pork, Chicken, or Beef
Salt and Pepper
4 cloves of garlic minced
Corn Husk (we used just over a bag)
5 dried New Mexican chilies
5 dried (ancho or Negro) chilies (we used ancho)
2 quarts of water
1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano
2 teaspoons ground Cumin
1 Knorr Tomato Bouillon cube (we use the with chicken flavor)
First we cooked 4-5 pounds of cook Pork, Chicken, or Beef and shredded it . (We cooked ours in the crock pot with enough water to cover it. Grinned plenty of salt and pepper over meat and and minced garlic. We had about half chicken and half pork.) keep the liquid for the dough.
While the meat is cooking you need to soak you Corn Husks for 2 hours in hot water to make them soft and pliable.
Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chilies. Rinse them in a colander then put in a pot with the 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and shimmer for 20-25 minutes.
Pour chilies and water into the blender with Mexican oregano, and cumin. Blend until smooth.

For the Dough:
2lbs Corn Masa (1/2 the bag)
3 Tbsp. Paprika
3 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Ground Cumin
3 Tbsp. Chilli Powder
3 Tbsp. Garlic Powder

In a large mixer mix all ingredients for dough. Heat 2 Cups of Corn Oil and pour into the dry mix while the mixer is going on low/ stir. (I used the dough- hook on my Kitchen Aid) Now you will need about 2 quarts of liquid. Use a half and half mixture. half of the liquids from cooking your meat and half of the chilies mixture. ( we used 3/4 liquid from meat and about 1/4 from chilies). Pour in about a cup at a time mixing well in between each addition. When done the mixture should be about the consistency of peanut butter or play dough. If it gets too thin and more Masa.

Pour the remaining chilies mixture over the meat and mix well.

No to assemble them and steam them.
Drain the water off the corn husk. Smear about 1/4 of the dough onto the husk. Covering about 2/3 of the husk toward the wider end of the husk. Now take some meat in your hand and squeeze. Put the meat down the center of the dough. (we also added some shredded cheese) fold right side over and then the bottom up and then roll the rest. the top will be open. Don't worry if the husk tears just add another to it. You can then take strips of husk and tie around to hold it together. (we put cheese in some and not in others and we used the tie to tell them apart)
After rolling all of the tamales you will want to place them in a large steaming pot. You want the water to come close to the top of the rack in the inside but you don't want it to touch the tamales. The opened end of the tamales should go to the top of the pan.

Steam tamales for at least 2 hours. Keep an eye on the water level to make sure you don't run out.When removing use a pair of tongs they will be hot.

Leftovers are great and can be frozen and reheated in the microwave or in the oven.