Name: Turkey Tamales with Mole Negro (Tamales de Guajolote con Mole Negro)
Yield: 8 tamales (8 servings as first course or light dinner entrée)
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1½ cups Mole Negro de Oaxaca or Mole Negro de Teotitlán; 1 small onion, unpeeled; 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled; 2 turkey drumsticks or 1 thigh and drumstick; 2½ teaspoons salt, or to taste; Banana leaves for wrapping, thawed if frozen; 8 ounces (about 1 cup) lard (preferably home-rendered); 1½ pounds (about 3 cups) coarse-ground fresh masa, homemade or bought from a supplier, or reconstituted masa made by mixing 2¼ cups masa harina with 1¾ cups chicken stock (preferably homemade) or water; 8 whole black peppercorns

Preparation info

8 tamales (
8
servings as first course or light dinner entrée)

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food and Life of Oaxaca

By Zarela Martínez

Published 1997

About

These are one of the most renowned Oaxacan classics: succulent banana-leaf tamales with a fluffy pillow of masa infused with the rich flavors of black mole and shredded cooked turkey. The meat has to be cooked by a moist-heat method, or it will be tasteless and dry, so I don’t recommend using leftover roast turkey. Simmer pieces of turkey in liquid and use the most flavorful parts, not the white breast meat.

Though the black mole version of turkey tamales is bes