It takes a certain amount of effort to make tamales, so most people make a large batch at once (and tamales do freeze well). If you find yourself with leftover tamales, they are quite delicious when breaded and fried. They get nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You can fry them whole, or mix several tamales together and shape the masa into smaller pieces to make bite-size fried tamales. Serve fried tamales with aji amarillo sauce or aji picante.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- Leftover tamales
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 cup masa harina cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley or cilantro
- 1 egg
- Vegetable oil for frying
Preparation:
- Remove the tamales from their wrappers (typically corn husks or banana leaves). You can leave them as is or mix the tamales all together in order to shape them into smaller appetizer-size tamales for frying. Shaping the leftover tamales into balls works best when they are very cold. Shape into bite-size balls (about the size of a golf ball).
- Beat the egg in a small bowl with a teaspoon of water until well mixed. In a larger shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, masa harina, garlic salt, cumin, pepper and parsley or cilantro.
- Dip each tamale in the egg mixture, letting the excess drain off, and then into the flour mixture. Repeat with remaining tamales.
- Heat 1-2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy pot with tall sides over medium-high heat to 360 degrees. Fry tamales, in batches if necessary, until deep golden brown. Place them on a plate covered with paper towels to cool, and sprinkle them with coarse salt.
- Serve warm, with a dipping sauce.
