Vegan hallaca
Servings 6 hallacas
Ingredients
Annatto oil
- 200 mL canola
- 1 tbsp annatto seeds
Guiso
- 1 tbsp Annatto oil or vegetable oil
- ½ leek, finely chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ red pepper, chopped
- ½ green pepper, chopped
- 1 can jack fruit in brine, drained
- 200 mL chopped tomatoes, canned
- 2 tbsp tomato puré
- 200 mL red wine
- 2 tsp Vegan Worchester sauce
- 1 tsp Marmite or soy sauce optional
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp/cube vegetable stock powder or cube
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp smoked paprika optional
- 1 tsp black pepper
- chili powder, to taste optional
- salt, to taste
Dough
- 100 mL Annatto oil or vegetable oil
- 450 mL Precooked corn flour
- 500 mL vegetable stock or water as needed
- ½ tsp salt
Filling per hallaca
- 3-4 tbsp guiso (made here)
- 1 red pepper slices
- 1 onion slice
- 2 green olives, deseeded
- 5 raisins
- 5 capers
- 2 almonds
Wrapping
- 12 pcs banana leaves, 25x30 cm OR see note
- 6 pcs parchment paper, 25x30 cm, AND
- 6 pcs aluminum foil, 25x30 cm
- kitchen twine for leaves
Instructions
Annatto stained oil
- Add oil and annatto seeds to a small pot on medium heat. Stir for 5-10 minutes until the oil has a deep orange colour.
- Strain out and discard the annatto seeds. Set the oil aside to cool.
Guiso
- Heat 1 tbsp of the annatto oil in a large pot on medium to high heat. Add onion, leek and garlic and sweat until translucent.
- Add bell peppers and jackfruit and continue cooking for a few minutes.
- Stir in wine and crushed tomatoes. Add all other ingredients for the guiso.
- Simmer for 30 minutes, until the jackfruit is soft and starting to fall apart.
- Crush and divide the jackfruit pieces with a spoon or fork.
- If the guiso is too wet, let it simmer without a lid so the water can evaporate.
- Alternately, thicken it by taking some of the liquid into a bowl and stirring in corn flour. Return corn flour slurry to pot.
- Taste the guiso, It should be sour, tangy and sweet.
- Set aside and let cool. The guiso can be prepared a few days in advance to save time.
Dough
- Prepare the dough by mixing flour and salt.
- Add the annatto oil and stir in.
- Add water, a little at a time and work it into the dough. The dough should be quite wet and yo should be able to form it into discs quite easily. I ended up adding 500 mL water to 450 mL flour with 100 mL oil.
- Cover in clingfilm and let rest for 20 minutes.
Banana leaves and filling
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling by slicing peppers and onions and locating the other ingredients.
- Prepare the banana leaves, if using, by wiping with a wet towel. Wipe along the fibres, not perpendicular or you risk breaking the leafs.
- Cut the leaves or parchment paper into 25x30 cm rectangles.
Assembly and cooking
- Place a banana leaf rectangle or parchment paper on the table. Apply a light coating of annatto stained oil.
- Add a large handful of dough and flatten it out to create a disc of about 15-18 cm in diameter and ~3-5 mm in thickness.
- Add a generous dollop of guiso to the center of the disc and add the other fillings (onion, pepper, almonds, etc.) , as desired.
- Fold up the leaf to shape the dough disc first into a "taco shape" and then a closed cylinder. Roll down the leaf edge.
- Fold the ends of the leaf into the center and then place your bundle onto a second leaf rectangle or a piece of aluminum foil. Wrap the bundle in the second leaf or aluminum foil.If using a leaf, tie it closed using kitchen twine.
- When all hallaca are finished, add them to a pot of simmering water and boil for 30-40 minutes
- Move to a colander and let cool slightly. Serve wrapped in leaves but discard the leaves before eating.
Notes
Guiso: This recipe makes enough guiso for about 10 hallaca.
Banana leaves: two banana leaves are used to wrap the hallaca. Can often be bought frozen in Asian grocery stores. Can be substituted for an inner layer of parchment paper and an outer layer of aluminum foil.