Venezuelan Hallacas Recipe

Learn how to make Venezuelan hallacas step by step with this recipe. Write down the ingredients right now and follow the preparation of this typical Venezuelan Christmas meal. You will get delicious Venezuelan hallacas for 100 people. In case you want more or less quantity you will only have to adapt the proportions of ingredients making a rule of 3.

Depending on each region, Venezuelan Christmas hallacas are made differently. In some homes, the stew is cooked together with the dough and in others, it is cooked before. In the same way, the ingredients of the hallacas change, because we can find them with or without pork, with or without capers, with chicken meat or with seafood. The possibilities of the Venezuelan hallacas are infinite and, at the end of the day, each family adapts its recipe to its tastes. However you make them, we guarantee you will love them and you will find in them the best flavors and textures of Christmas.

Ingredients:

• 4 kilograms of corn flour
• 15 kilograms of beef
• 5 kilograms of pork
• 5 kilograms of onions
• 2 kilograms of paprika
• 300 grams of olives
• 300 grams of raisins
• 500 grams of capers
• Parsley
• Cilantro
• 1 kilogram of sweet bell pepper
• Banana leaves for wrapping hallacas
• 500 grams of grated paper (optional)
• 1 bottle of red wine

Steps to follow to make this recipe:

1) Every hallaca begins with the preparation of the stew. To do this, it cuts the beef and pork meat into large portions.

2) Chop the sweet bell pepper, coriander, parsley, 500 grams of paprika and 500 grams of onion into small cubes. Also, chop the remaining onions, the potatoes and the carrots in the form of slices and reserve. Cut the rest of the paprika in julienne and reserve.

3) Put the onion, capers, sweet bell pepper, paprika, parsley and coriander in a very large pot and fry them. Add the meat of the stew, as well as the pancake and the wine, and put everything to boil in water for at least 2 hours so that the flavors are well concentrated. When the cooking is finished, mix half a cup of corn flour with water and pour it in the preparation to thicken it.

Note: If you prefer, you can also add garlic to the Christmas hallaca stew.

4) While the stew is being cooked, prepare the dough for the hallacas with the 4 kilos of corn flour. Mix the oil and the onoto (annatto) seeds in a pot, heat, strain and set aside. Pour about 4 liters of water in a pot and add the corn flour, as well as the oil with the onoto. Knead very well until the dough is uniform, soft and with good color.

5)Once you have the stew and the dough ready, it is time to put together the hallacas! Take a large banana leaf and spread a small ball of the hallaca dough on it until it is thin. The thickness of the hallaca depends on the taste of each person, but we recommend that they are not so thick or the flavor of the filling will be lost.

Note: We recommend that you wash the banana leaves before using them.

6) Add the ingredients. First, add the stew and then decorate your hallaca with the olives, raisins, onion and paprika.

7) Close each hallaca by folding the banana leaf in half horizontally and then fold it a second time with the remaining leaf. Take the vertical ends of the leaf and fold them over the hallaca. Wrap the hallaca with other smaller banana leaves to reinforce it.

8) Tie the hallacas making a knot in the shape of a grid as you can see in the photograph.

9) In a large pot, cook the Venezuelan hallacas for approximately 40 minutes. Take them out, let them rest for about 10 minutes and enjoy.

Note: Keep the remaining hallacas in the freezer and, before consuming them, defrost them in boiling water for about 20 minutes.

Venezuelan Hallacas and other typical Christmas meals

There are few recipes as beloved in Venezuela as hallacas. They are a true typical Christmas food that makes all the homes where they are prepared happy and, although they are a little difficult to make, they are a tradition that always cultivates beautiful memories with the loved ones with whom you prepare them.