Making Nixtamal

Nixtamal is a process from MesoAmerican culture where corn or other hard shelled foods are soaked in lime to loosen the outer hull. In southern cuisine, we’ve just always ground the corn into meal and cooked with it. The nixtamalizing process releases niacin and other nutrients in the dried corn and makes it easier for your body to digest and absorb.

I’ve been reading and studying this process, and apparently the standard dent corn hybrid in the US doesn’t have the same nutrients as heritage types of corn. Corn itself is a hybrid plant that’s been cultivated from grass for nearly 9,000 years. It started spreading around the North American continent about 4,000 years ago. From what I’ve been able to read so far, the process of making nixtamal was probably discovered by accident around 1,500 - 1,200 BC. When MesoAmerican tribes were cooking the corn on a fire, it’s thought that some of the ashes may have cross contaminated the boiling pot and softened the hard kernels to make the cooking easier. Later on…. Boiling the hardened dried corn in powdered lime would speed this process up. Other grains besides corn can be treated in this way. Chickpeas can be turned into humus using this method as well.

Lime added to the corn

Nixtamal is a process from MesoAmerican culture where corn or other hard shelled foods are soaked in lime to loosen the outer hull.

I start off in my kitchen by adding 3 cups of red corn in this case to my InstantPot. I cover it with several inches of water and added 3 tablespoons of calcium hydroxide — powdered lime.

Red corn in lime water

I stir this in and set my InstantPot to cook the corn for about 40 minutes. Then I let the machine shit off and soak the corn overnight to soften it and loosen the hulls.

Cooked corn

I start rinsing the lime water out of the mixture.

Rinsing the Nixtamal

I rub the corn kernels between my hands to get the hulls to come off.

Loosening the hulls

Then I give the Nixtamal another good rinsing.

Second rinse

The hulls are sent down the drain to the garbage disposal.

Loosened hulls in the sink

Then I run the corn through the food processor to grind it coarse.

Grinding the nixtamal in a food processor

I set the Nixtamal aside for now. Tomorrow morning I’ll grind it again finer and add water to make it into masa harina, a corn based soft dough. I’ll use this to make corn tortillas, tortilla chips, or even gorditas.

Nixtamal needs more water.

 I’m going to pick up a traditional matete to grind with in the event I have a power loss. Our Maine winters sometimes causes snow covered tree branches to fall across the power lines and it leaves us in the dark for a couple days. I’ve always said that if a man is warm, dry, and well fed, he can make sound judgment decisions in an emergency situation and not flail around in panic when everyone around him is falling apart. Being able to process your food for the table is just the smart way of getting through such disasters.