This is from the Food Network's Good Eats show last evening. It calls for regular yellow corn meal instead of masa harina. Yes, it's complicated, but it's interesting to see what goes into these things.

Hot Tamales

Real cornhusks, soak in hot water while preparing the filling

Spice mixture:
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin (best to roast the seeds and grind fresh)
2 teaspoons black pepper

Combine.

Pork filling:
2 pounds Boston butt roast, cut into big chunks
1/2 of the above spice mixture
Water to cover

Simmer the meat in a large pot for about 2 1/2 hours until falling apart. Remove to a plate and reserve the cooking liquid in the pot.

2 pounds (about 6 cups) yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
7 1/2 oz (1 cup) lard (real lard gives better flavor than Crisco)
3 cups of the above cooking liquid

Stir the dry ingredients together to combine. Cut in the lard with your fingers until well mixed. Moisten with the cooking liquid to the consistency of stiff mashed potatoes or maybe scoopable ice cream. Cover with a cloth and let stand for a bit.

Meat filling:
1/2 cup oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, minced
1/2 of the above spice mix
Cooked pork, shredded

Saute the onion in the oil until soft, stir in the garlic and jalapeno, saute some more until soft. Not brown, just soft. Stir in the spice mix and shredded pork.

Cut some lengths of kitchen string for tying the husks. Lay a flat corn husk on the counter in front of you. Put about 2 tablespoons (a small ice cream scoop) of corn mixture on the husk and spread it, leaving a margin. Top with about a teaspoon or so of the meat mixture, then roll up the husk to enclose the meat with the corn part, but not too tight, and fold over one end. I recommend that you look up this procedure on the Internet, something with photos. Pile three tamales together with the seams on the inside and tie with the string.

Put one of those vegetable steamers in the large cooking pot that still contains the meat cooking liquid. Stand the tamales in the steamer, open ends up. Add water to within 1 inch of the top of the pot. Cover and bring to a boil, then uncover and cook 1 1/2 hours. The tamales are done when the corn part peels away from the husk easily. You may need to replenish the cooking liquid with more water during this time.

As you can see the assembly of the tamales is labor intensive, so the best way to do it is to invite some friends to help and set up an assembly line, and make a lot at one time. You can refrigerate them for a few days, or freeze them for about a month, wrapped in plastic wrap.

Serve the hot (from the stove) tamales with hot cooking broth poured over them, some Tabasco, and a beer.