Boxbol is a nutritious traditional Ixil (ethnic group in Guatemala) dish prepared with cornmeal and squash leaves and served with a delicious squash seed sauce and tomato salsa. Ixiles typically use the leaves from the squash güisquil (pronounced whiskeel) which is in the chayote family. The corn is soaked and cooked in water with lime (the mineral, not the citrus!) and a little bit of ash to produce nixtamal, which is then ground into masa (cornmeal dough). The masa is expertly wrapped in the güisquil leaves and boiled for 10 minutes.
1. First, to prepare the dough, cook the corn with a little lime and grind.
2. Then season the dough with salt to taste and knead it until it is very smooth.
3. In the case of using industrialized cornmeal, mix with water and salt to taste until a consistent dough is formed without being too dry.
4. Afterward, wash the young squash leaves well and spread them out.
5. Put a little bit of dough at one end of the sheet —extend it lengthwise, so that it can be rolled up well, like forming a taco.
6. Very carefully place the boxboles in a pot and steam for 30 min.
7. Separately, cook the tomato and the miltomate in a cup of water, straining them later to make a sauce.
8. Add the toasted and ground seeds to the sauce.
9. Season with salt and chili to taste.
10. Once the boxboles are cooked, serve on a deep plate.
11. Finally, bathe the dish with the delicious red sauce.
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