Immerse chicken in big pot of water. Add onions, garlic and salt. Cover and set to medium heat.
Boil together for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.
Once chicken is fully cooked, remove from water, cool to touch and debone.
Shred the chicken, place in large mixing bowl.
Pour flavoring salsa over chicken and mix with hands.
In a large container, place the corn husks deep in hot water and cover for a couple hours until they are soft and pliable. Tip: you may need to weigh them down with an inverted plate and a heavy can to keep them submerged.
In an electric mixer add Massa to the bowl. At medium-low speed add the following ingredients one at a time: chili paste, baking powder, salt, oil and water. Mix everything until it gets soft and heavy.
Drain water from husks. One at a time, flatten out the husks with the narrow end towards you and place 2.5oz (a little more than 1/4 cup) of Massa on the middle of the corn husk, leaving a little more room at the bottom of the husk. Add 1.5oz of chicken filling in the middle of the Massa.
Take the left side of the husk and fold it directly over the right side. Fold the narrow bottom end of the husk onto the folded tamale. ** For parties and presentation you can tie with strip of corn husk when serving dry tamales.
As you are making the tamales, stand them up on their rolled ends in a prepared steamer basket. Steam over boiling water for approximately 30-40 minutes until Massa is firm and holds its shape. Tip: Cover the tamales in the steamer with a layer of the left over corn husks. You can also fill empty spaces with gently wadded aluminum foil to prevent them from falling over.
In Casa Vega we serve them “oven-style”: gently remove the tamale from the husk and plate. Cover with homemade enchilada sauce, sprinkle with cheddar and jack cheese and cook in hot oven for 2-3 min until cheese is melted.
At home we serve them dry: Let everyone unroll their own tamale and serve with Tapatio and Mexican Crema. For a Crema Recipe click here.