Name: My Grandmother’s Chicken Tamales (Tamales de Mi Ana Linda)
Yield: 45 to 50 tamales
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (from one 3½-pound chicken); 1 medium-size onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup); 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano, crumbled; 3 fresh chiles, either Anaheim or poblano, roasted, peeled, and finely chopped, or 2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chiles, drained and finely chopped; ½ cup halved pimiento-stuffed green olives; 3 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil; Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; 1 pound dried corn husks; ½ cup golden raisins; 3 medium-size or 2 fairly large ripe, red tomatoes, roasted, peeled, and seeded (1½ cups tomato pulp); ½ cup dry sherry, heated; Basic Tamal Dough; ⅓ cup chicken stock, or as needed; 2 large garlic cloves, minced

Preparation info

45 to 50
tamales

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Food from My Heart

By Zarela Martínez

Published 1992

About

My mother’s mother, Ana Acuña Corella, was a beauty of legendary charm, tall and curvaceous, with regal carriage, auburn hair, and green eyes. She had a waltz composed in her honor, and there were beautiful stories about her romance with my grandfather. Everyone called her Ana Linda (Beautiful Ana).

My grandmother had an earthy sense of humor. She always said that she loved gentes con pasado (people with a past). When she found me sitting spl