The hallaca (pronounced AH-JAC-KA) is the main Venezuelan Christmas dinner dish. It was created by the slaves during the colony times. They put the left-overs of their master's Christmas festivities in a bit of cornmeal dough, wrapped this with banana leaves and cooked to mix the flavors.
Ingredients
Just some of the ingredients for Hallaca:
- * A whole leg of pork cutting up filthy thinly
- * Two or three roasting hens
- * 1 can of mock duck or 1 packet of tofu marinated pieces.
- * 500g of cooked and mashed new potatoes.
- * 50g of almonds.
- * 4 white onions.
- * 2 red onions.
- 2 carrots, 6 Brussels sprouts, and a handful of green beans (or another similar combination of vegetables).
- 1 can of artichoke hearts.
- 1 can of asparagus.
- 1 can of chickpeas.
- 1 head of garlic.
- 1 packet of mi-cuit (half dried) tomatoes or 1 tube of tomato paste.
- 4 red bell peppers.
- 2 green bell peppers.
- 100g of mixed vine fruit.
- 20 prunes.
- jar of green olives.
- 1 jar of mixed pickles in mustard sauce.
- 1 jar of capers.
- 3 leeks.
- 2 packets of spring onions.
- 1 large bunch of herbs (coriander (cilantro), thyme, parsley, celery).
- 1 Tsp of black peppercorns.
- 1 tsp of coriander seeds.
- 1 tsp of cumin seeds.
- 1 Tsp of annatto seeds (also called "achiote" or "onoto").
- 1 kg of instant polenta meal (coarse corn meal).
- 1 roll of kitchen string.
- 1 kg of banana leaves (for wrapping, not for eating!).
- 250 ml of olive oil.
- 1 vegetable stock cube.
- 1 mushroom stock cube.
- Marmite, soya sauce and chili sauce to season.
Directions:
Leaves:
- 1. With a damp cloth wipe the banana leaves.
- 2. Heat the banana leaves with a flame (gas cooker, camping fire, etc). The leaves turn softer and darker, with a distinctive smoky smell.
- 3. Cut the hard rim without shredding the leaves. Cut in 30 cm segments along the transversal veins.
Polenta dough:
- In a small pan, warm (at very low heat) 5 Tsp of olive oil with the annatto seeds for 20 minutes. The oil should turn red.
- In the meantime, fry in a deep pan the spices (cumin, black pepper, and coriander seeds) in 2-3 Tsp of olive oil. Cut the white onions in slices and add to the pan.
- Add 5 cups of boiling water.
- Add the stock cubes and a Tsp of Marmite to season.
- Add the green part of the leeks plus the white part of 2 leeks in 1-inch chunks.
- Cut 1 and a half packet of spring onions and add to the pan.
- Add all the herbs (keep some parsley to garnish) and the garlic head cut in halves.
- Simmer this broth for 15 minutes.
- Put the content of the pan in a food processor and liquidise it.
- Strain it very well keeping the liquid and discarding the solid waste (may want it to make vegetable cakes, up to you).
- Put the broth in a large bowl and add the red oil (previously strained to remove the annatto seeds).
- 6. Pour the water content of the olive and the caper jars in the bowl.
- Add the polenta meal, 1 cup at a time, stirring very well.
- The consistency should be smooth. Mix the mashed potatoes with the polenta dough.
- 7. Make a small test for the consistency of the dough.
- Wrap 1 Tsp of dough with a small segment of banana leaf.
- Wrap it in aluminum foil and boil it in water for 15 minutes.
- If the cooked dough maintain the shape of the banana leaf "package", the dough is OK. If it crumbles or comes out half dissolved in water, then add more polenta meal.
- If it comes out rock hard, then add more water to the dough.
- Rectify the salt as well.
Fillings:
- 1. Grill peppers: Rub olive oil in two red bell peppers and grill them.
- 2. Remove the skin and seeds and cut in 1cm wide strips.
- 3. Put them apart in a small bowl.
Sauce:
- 1. Slice two red onions. Chop the rest of the spring onions and a leek.
- 2. Stir fry quickly.
- 3. Liquidise the mi-cuit tomatoes, two red peppers and two green peppers and add to the stir fry onions and leek. Stir for a minute.
- 4. Add soya sauce, chili sauce and ground cumin to season. Add some cooking wine if you want. Let it simmer for another minute.
- 5. Add some wheat or corn flour to thicken. Put the sauce apart in a bowl.
Small bowls:
- 1. Vegetables: shred the carrots and Brussels sprouts, mix with the green beans, chopped.
- Put them apart in a bowl.
- 2. Soak the vine fruit in cooking wine or replacement.
- Put it apart in a small bowl.
- 4. Soak prunes in cooking wine or replacement.
- Put in a small bowl.
- 5. Drain chickpeas and put them apart in a small bowl.
- 7. Put pickles apart in a small bowl.
- 8. Blanch and toast the almonds, and put them apart in a small bowl.
- 10. Drain and chop the mock duck into 1cm cubes and put them in a small bowl.
- 11. Put the olives apart in a small bowl.
- 12. Put the capers apart in a small bowl.
- 13. Drain the artichoke hearts, cut in quarters and put them in a small bowl.
- 14. Drain the asparagus and put it in a plate.
Hallaca
Wrapping the hallaca:
- 1. Cut a 35 cm long piece of aluminum foil and put it over the table. Cover with a banana leaf, the transversal veins along the horizontal axis. Rub oil on front face of the banana leaf. Put a bit more than half a ladle of dough in the centre of the leaf. Extend with a spoon to cover a 14cm-diameter circle.
- 2. Put 1 Tsp of Sauce in the middle. Put 1½ Tsp of shredded vegetables over the sauce. Put 2 olives and 2 capers, one on each corner of the dough. Keep placing the rest of the fillings as in a collage: 1 tsp. of vine fruit, 1 prune, 2 tsp. of pickles, 1 Tsp of chickpeas, 3 cubes of mock duck, 1 asparagus, 2 strips of grill pepper and some leaves of parsley.
- 3. Wrap this with the banana leaf (not against the veins). Fold the foil to seal the ends of the banana leaf packet. Then, fold the foil to wrap the whole packet. Tie it with kitchen string. Repeat for the rest of the dough (see diagrams below).
- 4. Boil the hallacas covered in water for 20-30 minutes. You may have to do this in batches unless you have a huge cauldron. Drain the hallacas and let them cool for 10 hours. Put them in the fridge or freezer. Heat the hallacas in boiling water, simmering for 10 minutes before eat them.
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