If you have a family and if you want to surprise the guests at dinner, prepare yourself the delicious hallaca, this crusty dish that identifies Venezuelan Christmas, especially the style of Zulia.

Preparing hallacas takes at least two days, ideally it should be consumed in the shortest possible time. This process is divided into five steps: prepare the stew; Cut and wash the ornament; Washing, cutting and conditioning leaves; Prepare the dough and finally the filling and stew of the hallaca. These are the ingredients for 50 hallacas of your choice, either mixed or pork, meat, chicken or chicken:

For the stew (the meat is the one of your preference)
2 kg. Of beef cut into squares.

2 kg. Of chicken cut into squares.

½ kg. Of pork cut into squares.

1 ½ kg. Finely diced onions.

½ kg. Finely chopped garlic clove.

¼ kg. Finely chopped chives.

¾ cup of garlic, peeled and crushed.

½ cup small capers.

1 kg. Red and green paprika seeded and julienne (thin strips).

1 cup raisins.

¼ cup finely chopped sweet peppers.

2 cups of cooking wine.

Salt.

Black pepper in beans.

Cover of Chicken or Rib (cubes) to taste.

Onoto oil (it is obtained when the seeds of Onoto in oil are obtained until the color turns red).

Ingredients for the adornment

1 kg. Of paprika in julienne (strips).

½ kg. Onion rings.

200 grs. Capers.

400 grs. Filled olives

½ kg. Of raisins.

½ kg. Of cooked chickpeas (Zulian touch) In some cities they substitute the chickpea for boiled egg or filleted almonds.

Sheets for wrapping

50 pieces of banana leaves about 30 × 30 cm cleaned.

50 pieces of banana leaves about 20 × 20 cm. cleaned.

50 strips of banana leaves about 15 × 20 cm.

1 roll of wick.

In most establishments where they sell the ingredients for hallacas already sold cut, but you have to select them.

Ingredients for the dough

2 ½ packets of corn flour.

Oil onoto.

A splash of the broth of the hallaca.

Water and salt to taste.

You can make the casserole one day before the wrapper so that it takes consistency and the mixture of tastes is concentrated.

Step 1: Work

Preparation of the stew

Check that the meat is used (white, red or mixed) has no excess fat, and cut into small squares, if it is chicken cook separately without completely softening, reserve the broth. In a large pail (round and shallow metal container) sauté the onion and garlic in warm oil, until wilted, add the garlic clove and the chives and cook for about 5 minutes, add the paprika and Aji Sweet, let cook a few more minutes and add the meat, let it sit and add all other ingredients and let cook.

Let cook for about 40 minutes, until the consistency is almost thick. Let stand and reserve.

Prepare the dough In a mold the flour is poured and little by little is added the broth that we had reserved, in constant movement is added salt, oil onoto to grab the yellow color and the necessary water to make a homogeneous mass, soft and not Stick to your hands

Work table

It is important that you have a large and strong table for the ingredients of the ornament, the stew, the leaves, the cottage cheese and the recommended one cup of oil to soften the dough and the leaves at the time of the dough. The first one is to take a leaf of the largest and grease, in the center of the blade place a ball of dough and thin it with the fingers (until reaching ½ cm), creating a symmetrical circumference, then add the stew and already About This place the ornaments distributed harmoniously.

Then fold over the wide side of the blade so that two of the sides of the dough fall off which over the filling. They take the edges, join and bend. Fold the other two ends, creating a fold until it is closed, fold the ends inwards and wrap it with the smallest sheet, then take another sheet to reinforce the wrapping and then tie it with the wick by crossing it twice in each direction.

When there are several guest rooms in a large pot with water in the space of an hour, children and stairs, let it face completely, and if possible wait a whole day to serve them well you can appreciate their taste better. Some people from the placement on a plate with some water and tapas in the micro slings for about 3 minutes.