Original recipe from The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking by Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz
This is a savory pie with chicken in an Ancho chile based tomato sauce. The crust is made from masa (corn) flour, the same as used when making tamales (hence the recipe name). These days I make this in a 9" springform pan which are easy to come by and make the serving process easier since you only have to release the band to unmold it. Other tools you'll need are a food processor, a 12" frying pan, a rolling pin, and plastic wrap. It's a really good idea to read this all the way through before starting.
| 6 ea | Ancho chiles (or about 3-4 T of Ancho powder - to taste) |
| 1 3-4 lb | Chicken (or equiv amount in parts - breasts, thighs) |
| 1 ea | Large yellow onion |
| 3-4 cloves | Garlic |
| 1 ea | 28oz can of stewed tomatoes |
| ¼ C | Ground or slivered almonds |
| ½ C | Raisins |
| 1-1 ½ tsp | Salt, to taste |
| ¼-½ tsp | Black pepper, to taste |
Simmer the chicken in a pot until cooked. Cool and then bone (if not boneless) and cut/pull apart to bite size. Reserve the liquid.
If starting with whole Anchos, seed them and tear them into pieces. Soak them in ½ to 1 cup of hot water for 10 min. Process them first with some of their water to make a paste. Leave in the processor and continue with the next steps.
Process onion, garlic, and tomatoes (all the contents of the can). Chop raisins somewhat or you'll have whole raisins in the sauce. Add the raisins to the processor and process. If using slivered almonds, grind the almonds to a powder (e.g., in a coffee grinder dedicated to spice grinding). The almonds are meant to help thicken the sauce, so they need to be ground pretty finely. Add the almonds to the processor and process to mix. Add the chile powder (if using), salt, and pepper at the end. Heat 2-4 Tbs of oil in a 12" frying pan and simmer the sauce over medium heat for 15-30 min, or until the onions are tempered and the sauce is bubbling. Wear an apron, it likes to spatter. If the sauce is a little bitter, try adding a 1 - 3 tsp of sugar, which will buffer the bitterness without making it too sweet. Test the seasoning (e.g., salt) and adjust as necessary. Let cool a little before using in the pie. Probably just making the dough will be long enough.
| ½ C | Crisco or equiv (original used lard) |
| 3 ½ C | Masa Harina (corn flour) |
| 1 tsp | Baking Powder |
| ½ tsp | Salt |
| ½ C | Milk |
| ½ C | Reserved Chicken Stock |
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Process (easiest), or mix with a pastry cutter, the dry ingredients with the Crisco. Add the liquid and maybe more until a little handful of the dough holds together, but not too wet. Grease a 9" springform pan with some Crisco and line the bottom and sides with dough, pressing and flattening with your hands. Maybe 1/8" to 1/4" thick. There will be dough left for the top.
Spoon some sauce over the bottom of the crust. Add a layer of chicken. More sauce. More chicken. Repeat until you run out of chicken. Finally, spoon a layer of sauce on top and flatten. There should be sauce left over to serve with the tamal pie. This all needs to end up below the top of the dough sides.
Take the remaining dough, add a little of the reserved stock to it to make it hold together better, and roll it out between 2 squarish sheets of plastic wrap until it's bigger than the top of the pan. Flattening the dough as much as possible by hand first will make the task easier. You can test the size just by putting the pan over it. When big enough, use the pan as a sort of cookie cutter to cut the dough into a circle (don't take off the top wrap until after this. Remove the top wrap and trim away the excess dough, leaving the circle on the bottom wrap layer.
Now the tricky part. Pick up the bottom wrap and deftly invert it over and into the springform pan, creating a top. Remove the wrap and try and join the edges of the top and sides (this is where you see if you added enough liquid to the dough). Don't worry if the top is cracked, adds character. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool for 10-15 min.
Place on a plate. Unmold (you can leave it on the springform base). Serve with the warmed remaining sauce on the side.