Tamales in Texas are made with red chili, not New Mexico’s orange red chili. The meat is simmered in the sauce to absorb the flavor and then a generous amount is placed in the dough so that there is more meat and less dough. The dough spreads finely. New Mexico chili became one thing that made good things harder to find in powder form in local grocery stores. It is more easily found in Mexican markets. The reason I mention this

is that:

Jane Butel has a recipe for the sauce here: http://www.janebutelcooking.com/utility/showArticle/?objectID=2566 The exception is that she’s now selling New Mexico red chili on her site instead of using red chili peppers made from red peppers and not orange as she once recommended a few decades ago. I have made tamales with orange NM material and it is less tasty than Red Chile imo. People who come from NM tend to love them. It’s all a matter of taste. Try them and if you like them, everything is fine, but don’t be surprised when your lovely red chili sauce is orange if you planned to use it for enchiladas, chili or whatever.

You can also make your own by buying whole, dried chili peppers and simmering in water to extract the flavor. Pierce the chili with a knife and shake the seeds before placing them in water or broth. When tender, mix the chili in the juice along with your favorite herbs and you’ll have a chili broth to add to your sauce (great base for chili instead of chili powder). I haven’t tried to do this in the pressure cooker, but I intend to try and see what happens. By reading this site, I understand that heat can be amplified. Simmering on the stove removes heat; So be careful out there. 😉

Cascabel is the traditional chili for tamales, but Ancho and Chipotle are also good. Chili bags are cheap and light; Therefore, it is cheap to ship, so it should not be expensive for those who cannot easily buy them in their local market. You can experiment until you find exactly the flavor you prefer. Mix and match. I don’t recommend California chili peppers, as they impart little flavor and aren’t worth the effort. Keep in mind that some chili peppers should be peeled before mixing, as the skins are hard, leaving small hard pieces in the sauce if they are not removed. Most don’t.

Banana leaves, if you can find them, impart more flavor to the tamale dough and are easier since they make fat tamales; therefore, less to roll. If you don’t have an army of kids to help, you may want to opt for banana leaves.

Since I’m on

the subject of chili peppers, whenever a recipe calls for green peppers, try poblano or hatching instead. I suspect you will never touch another green pepper again. Just be sure to cook the pepper thoroughly to prevent them from being hot.

For those of you who are not used to the heat of chili peppers, try buying Hatch peppers in their various forms. New Mexico Hatch peppers are tasty and rarely have the warmth of some of the other chili peppers. They are especially charming on top of an open charred fire steak or just about anything for that matter. Hats off to New Mexico for their Hatch peppers. 😉

Lastly, although I’m

not new to basic pressure cooking, I’m new to this site and I’m excited to try more varied recipes. Now I realize that there are many more dishes I can cook quickly and I had no idea I was making some of my recipes incorrectly! I’ve put chili peppers in my pressure cooker in the past and didn’t notice (or remember) that the dish was hotter than usual, but now I’m cautious. I’m not sure I’m willing to give up chili peppers and substitute red pepper and cayenne flakes, but I’ll keep an open mind. We eat chili peppers for their taste, not so much for the heat. This could be a problem, but I hope to find ways around the problem when it occurs.

Thank you very much, Laura, for this site. I have already found the information here invaluable and will buy your book (and click on the links) as a thank you.