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Adding flavor to the Christmas mood in Venezuela is the Hallaca dish. Prepared particularly during Christmas, Hallaca, Venezuela has become the charm of a Venezuelan meal. Being the main Venezuelan dish for Christmas, it is prepared with care and patience.
Hallaca Ingredients
The ingredients that are required for the preparation of Hallaca are mock duck, garlic head , red onions, white onions, Brussels sprouts, dried tomatoes, asparagus, almonds, green olives, Herbs like coriander, thyme, parsley, celery, mashed potatoes, green bell peppers, capers, leeks, spring onions, artichokes, red bell peppers, chickpeas, mixed pickles in mustard sauce , black peppercorns, green beans, carrots, prunes , mixed vine fruit, cumin seeds, instant polenta meal, onoto seeds. Some of the ingredients are coriander seeds, mushroom stock cube , banana leaves, Marmite, chili sauce and soya sauce to season.
Hallaca Recipe
The Hallaca recipe includes the preparation of polenta dough, fillings, the sauce and the vegetables.
Preparing the polenta dough
5 tsp of olive oil is heated with onoto seeds for 20 minutes till the oil turns red. Cumin, coriander seeds and black pepper are heated in two to three table spoon of olive oil. White onions are sliced and added to the pan,. 5 cups of boiling water is then added to it. Stock cubes and one teaspoon full of marmite are then added to season the contents. The green part of the leeks and the white part of two leeks are added in one inch cubes. One and a half packet of spring onions are added to the pan. Add the herbs and garlic head cut in halves.
This broth should then be simmered for 15 minutes. The contents of the pan should then be liquidised by a food processor. The water should then be strained. The red oil, should be added to the broth. The water content of the olive and the caper jars should be poured in a bowl. The polenta meal should then be added gently ad the mashed potatoes should then be mixed.
The filling is prepared with grilled red bell peppers smeared with olive oil.
Preparing the sauce
Two red onions should be sliced and the rest of the spring onions and a leek should be chopped. The ingredients should be stirred and fried simultaneously. The semi dried tomatoes, two red peppers and two green peppers should be liquidized and added to the stir fried onions and leek. The contents should be stirred for a minute. Some wheat or corn flour should be added to thicken. The sauce then should be kept separately in a bowl.
Preparing the vegetables
The carrots and the Brussel sprouts should be shredded and mixed with chopped green beans. The ingredients should then be set aside. The vine fruits and the prunes should be soaked in cooking wine and set apart. The chick peas should be drained and set aside along with the pickles. The almonds should be blanched and toasted. The Mock duck should be drained and chopped in 1cm cubes and set aside. The Artichokes should be drained and cut in quarters too along with the asparagus.
A banana leaf should be taken and smeared with oil on its front side. A good amount of dough is put in the center. It should then be leisurely spread on the banana leaf. One teaspoon of sauce should be put in the middle. 1 ½ Tsp of shredded vegetables should be put over the sauce. 1 tsp. of vine fruit, 2 tsp. of pickles, 1 prune, 3 cubes of mock duck, 1 Tsp of chickpeas, 1 asparagus, 2 strips of grill pepper and few leaves of parsley should be placed together as the filling. The ingredients should be wrapped with the banana leaves. Wrapping it up with an aluminum foil completes the work.
The hallaca should be boiled in water for 20-30 minutes, drained and then cooled. The Hallaca, Venezuela is ready to be served.
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