Atole de Granillo de la Sierra Sur

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Clay comal or heavy cast iron skillet for toasting
• •Hand-crank corn mill (molino de mano) or metate, or blender as last resort
• •Heavy clay olla or thick-bottomed 4-quart pot
• •Wooden spoon (cuchara de palo)
• •Clay jarritos or deep ceramic mugs for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the dried corn

   Heat a dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the dried corn kernels in a single layer, working in batches if needed so they are not crowded. Toast for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring and shaking the pan constantly. The kernels will darken from pale white to a golden tan with brown spots. Some will pop and jump. The kitchen will smell like roasted corn, warm and nutty, like standing outside a tortilleria at five in the morning. Do not stop stirring. Burned corn turns the atole bitter and there is no saving it. Each batch should sound like dry beans rattling in a gourd as you shake the comal. When they are uniformly golden and fragrant, slide them onto a plate to cool.

   Listen to the corn. It crackles lightly when the moisture is leaving the kernel. When the crackling slows and the color is even, the batch is done. Trust your nose and your ears before your eyes.
2. 2

   Grind to granillo texture

   Let the toasted corn cool until you can handle it. Grind in a hand-crank corn mill set to the coarsest setting, or pulse in short bursts in a blender, three to four pulses of one second each. You are not making flour. You want a coarse, uneven grind: some pieces the sizeof a pinhead, some a bit larger, and a fine starchy dust holding it all together. If you grind it smooth, you have killed the granillo. Si lo mueles de mas, ya no es granillo. Check the texture with your fingers. It should feel gritty and rough, like coarse sand with pebbles in it.

   A metate gives the best control over the grind because you can feel the texture under the mano as you work. A hand-crank mill on the widest setting is the next best thing. A blender is a last resort: pulse carefully, check constantly, and stop before you think you should.
3. 3

   Dissolve the ground corn

   Place the coarse-ground corn in a large bowl. Add 2 cups of the water at room temperature and stir with your hand or a wooden spoon, breaking up any clumps. Let it sit for five minutes. The starchy dust will begin to cloud the water and the larger granillo pieces will settle to the bottom. This brief soak gives the starch a head start before it hits the heat.

4. 4

   Simmer with canela and piloncillo

   Pour the corn mixture and its soaking liquid into a heavy clay olla or a thick-bottomed pot. Add the remaining 6 cups of water, the canela sticks, and the chopped piloncillo. Set over medium heat and stir steadily with a wooden spoon as it comes to a simmer. The piloncillo will dissolve in about ten minutes if you chopped it small enough. Once the liquid begins to bubble gently, reduce the heat to low. The atole needs a lazy simmer, not a boil. A hard boil will push the granillo to the bottom and scorch it.

   Chopping piloncillo is easier if you wrap the cone in a clean towel and crack it with the back of a heavy knife or a mallet. Do not try to slice it like an onion. It will fight you.
5. 5

   Stir and thicken

   Cook at a low simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the bottom of the pot. The starch from the ground corn will thicken the liquid gradually. You will feel it change under the spoon, from watery to silky to the consistency of a thin porridge. The granillo pieces will swell and soften but should still hold their shape and offer a slight chew. If the atole thickens too much before the time is up, add half a cup of hot water and stir it in. Add the salt in the last five minutes. It rounds the sweetness without making the drink taste salty.

6. 6

   Serve hot in clay

   Remove the canela sticks. Ladle the atole into clay jarritos or deep mugs. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but still drinkable. The granillo will settle as it sits, so stir the pot before each ladle. Drink it hot, in the morning, the way the senoras of the Sierra Sur have been drinking it for as long as corn has grown in those mountains. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •The corn matters more than anything else in this recipe. Look for dried white maiz criollo at a Mexican grocery or a Latin American market. The large-kernel field corn sold for pozole works, but the smaller, denser kernels from Oaxacan highland varieties give a nuttier flavor. Do not use canned hominy, do not use popcorn, and do not use fresh corn. This is a dried corn drink. Asi se hace y punto.
• •Piloncillo is not brown sugar. It is unrefined cane sugar pressed into a cone, and it has a deep, almost smoky molasses flavor that brown sugar cannot replicate. You will find it at any Mexican grocery. If you absolutely cannot find it, use dark muscovado sugar as a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Canela is Ceylon cinnamon, not cassia. Cassia is the thick, hard bark sold as 'cinnamon sticks' in most American supermarkets. Canela is thin, papery, and crumbles easily. It is gentler, more floral, less aggressive. Mexican cooking uses canela. Find it at a Mexican grocery or spice vendor. If you use cassia, use only one stick and remove it earlier, because it will overpower the corn.
• •This atole is not meant to be sweet like a dessert. It is a breakfast drink with just enough piloncillo to round the flavor of the toasted corn. Taste as you go. Dona Fidelia used half a cone for a full olla. Adjust to your own hand, but start conservative.

Advance Preparation

• •The corn can be toasted and ground up to three days ahead. Store the coarse-ground granillo in a sealed jar at room temperature. The toasted flavor holds well.
• •The finished atole is best the moment it is made. It will thicken considerably as it cools and the granillo absorbs liquid. Reheat gently over low heat with a splash of water, stirring constantly, but know that the texture will never be quite the same as fresh. This is a drink meant to be made and drunk in the same morning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 305g)