Polkanes

Ingredients

• 2 cups masa harina
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups cooked, well-seasoned white beans
• ½ cup ground pumpkinseeds (recipe here)
• 2 tablespoons chopped oregano
• ¼ cup minced onion or shallot
• Oil or lard as needed

8 polkanes

Preparation

1. Make the masa into a dough by adding salt and 1 1/2 to 2 cups of water. Stir it well and knead it a bit — it should not be sticky or dry — and then let it rest, covered, for at least 15 minutes. Mix together all the remaining ingredients except the oil.
2. Flatten about 1/8 of the dough on your hand, then fill it with a bit of the stuffing. The dough will be flexible, so you’ll be able to make an egg-shaped dumpling by enclosing some of the filling within. (Even if the dumpling is imperfect — that is, with some of the filling escaping — it’ll be fine. Just shape it nicely and don’t worry about beans or bits of onion on the surface.) Repeat with the rest of the dough and the filling.
3. Fry in about 1/4 inch of oil or lard, turning as needed to brown beautifully. Serve hot or at room temperature with tomato-pumpkinseed salsa (recipe here).

30 minutes