Maya Corn And Bean Tamales

1 cup dried beans, presoaked

;Water 2 cups masa flour (not masa dough)

or corn meal 1 teaspoon salt

In pot cook beans in water several hours until they begin to fall apart. Results should be about 4 cups of beans and liquid. If using masa flour, let beans cool, then mix well with masa flour and salt. If using corn meal, poiur boiling beans on cornmeal and stir furiously, then add salt. Form corn-bean dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter, wrap in corn husks or foil and steam 1 hour. Makes about 20 2 inch tamales. From: sally charette . Fatfree Digest [Volume 8 Issue 56] Formatted by Sue Smith, S.Smith34, TXFT40A@Prodigy.com using MMCONV : Just saw this recipe in today's _L.A. Times_. I've been looking for something like this. It explains that in pre-Columbian times, the Mayans didn't use lard in their tamales. change anything in this recipe and haven't tried it yet, but it looked like it should be shared! The recipe apparently comes from "Americas First Cuisines" (University of Texaz: $14.95 paper/ $35.00 cloth, 288 pp ) by Sophie Coe :"