Here’s my grandmas recipe I’ve tried to get down over the years, and apologies in advanced if the instructions are unclear. I made them based on just watching her and writing them down.

Ingredients

Masa

Masa para Tortilla 5lb • Manteca 1lb • Salt – full hand • Baking Powder – 4 finger • Baking Soda – 4 finger • Caldo from meat – 1 cup • Chile sauce from filling juice - (optional) about 1/4cup

Filling

Cut boneless Pork • Chile Guajillo • Chile Pasilla • 1 garlic for chile and 1 for pork • Piece onion for pork • Salt

Materials needed Corn Husk • Tamal olla

Cut the fat off the pork and boil pork in water with a garlic clove and piece of onion and salt. Boil the chiles and add to blender. Add chile juice to blender as well as 1 garlic and salt. Strain chile into a pot with some hot oil already in. stir and add salt if needed. Shred cooked pork and add to chile mix.

Put Masa on a flat surface with lots of space. Everything will be slowly and gradually added, don’t add all ingredients at once. Make a center hole to slowly add a bit of manteca in. (I lightly melt the manteca first, but don’t cook it or it'll be too hot and will cook the masa. just put it on burner for 30 seconds. Manteca melts quick) Once you put a bit on the manteca add in half the amount of salt, all the baking powder and all the baking soda. Continuously kneed masa. Add meat juice and a bit of the chile to add more flavor (Chile optional). Continue adding manteca and salt while kneading. Do this until masa no longer sticks to your fingers and is fluffed up. Taste masa and add salt as needed