Humintas: A Bolivian corn dish

A friend happened to send me this post on someone who had made bread using the techniques of the ancient Pharoahs of Egypt and I thought this man thinks like me: matching food and archaeology or history if you prefer :) So I got in touch with Miguel and within the first hour we had chalked out a plan to make dishes from each other's country and swap the experiences. So here begins our quest to learn more about other cultures and history thorough the best way we know: cooking! :D

My task was to make the Bolivian dish Humintas. Now I checked online and it is widely eaten in many South American countries as well. Bolivia has their own version but most follow the same basic recipe and unfortunately, the use of animal fat (lard) which I obviously had to replace with melted cow fat. I do not eat any pig products so it had to be an alternative to lard but I wish I didnt have to use animal fat as I strictly avoid it in my food! :/ Oh well... I went all Nigella Lawson and added a dollop nonetheless. (wait she probably would have used the entire cow!!)

So here I was, having only been exposed to some basic Brazilian cuisine during my visit there in 2012, while Humintas was primarily a very homely dish, one that may not be on restaurant menus. So imagine my delight when my friend Danya suddenly sent me 6 massive corns from her organic cornfields just in time for my cooking session. I called in my friends Liz and Vince and Vince is this award winning photographer so I was doubly blessed with quality products and an experienced hand like him! :)

On to the dish and sourcing the spices was no problem. We love chilies in Bangladesh and I have often felt that South American dishes have many similarities with us, at least in terms of cuisine and I made my maid run around looking for banana leaves as M. le Photographer  decided he wanted a natural base. My maid went to someone's banana grove behind our house and tore 2 huge leaves much to my neighbor's amusement and we started cooking!

Ingredients: 

Pinch of Salt, cinnamon powder, anise powder, 2-3 green chilies that have turned red then ground into a paste, warm animal fat (I used 2 tbs), 2 eggs, sugar, a tsp of baking powder, 5 corn cobs, a bit of white cheese or cottage cheese. (called Dhk poneer here)

Method:

Grind the corn kernels until you get a paste which might be slightly grainy to the touch. 

Mix everything properly except for the cheese. You may check the texture as eggs make the mix too watery so omit one egg if needed. Open the corn husks, use a couple of husks inverted, take a husk and turn the round ends inwards with inner side pointing out then place another one beneath it so you can ultimately wrap them. Put a couple of tablespoons in the middle of the husk. In the middle add grated cheese.

Fold the husks into a packet shape ensuring the stuffing does not ooze out

Close the humintas with a tie made with the husks. (you can use the husks to cut out strings).

Place these in a steamer for up to 40 mins and stick a toothpick in to see whether done.

If the toothpick comes out clean you are ready to serve

The huminatas was obviously sweet and spicy to the taste with a hint of the zing cheese adds to any dish. next time though I will keep the corn paste less grainy as some of the kernels had not entirely been ground well. Nonetheless, I got a taste of Bolivia right here in my kitchen in the chaotic city of Dhaka, all thanks to Miguel and I cant wait for our next assignment!!! :D

Cheers all and take pride in your cooking!!

Reema Islam,
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Cooked Humintas from Bolivia
Pics by Vince Boisgard