Tamalito is a typical dish of the Amazonas Region

Amazonas Region

Amazonas is a department of northern Peru bordered by Ecuador on the north and west, Cajamarca Department on the west, La Libertad Department on the south, and Loreto Department and San Martín Department on the east. Its capital is the city of Chachapoyas....

 in Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. Its appearance is similar to the tamale

Tamale

A tamale — or more correctly tamal — is a traditional Latin American dish made of masa , which is steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper. The wrapping is discarded before eating...

 from the coast, but they are drier and smaller. It scarcely reaches 7 cm.

Preparation

Tamalitos are prepared in a similar manner to tamales.
Stone-ground maize is mixed with lard. This mixture is then filled with ground beef, and wrapped in achirra

Canna indica

Canna indica L. is a species of the Canna genus, belonging to the family Cannaceae, a native of the Caribbean and tropical Americas that is also widely cultivated as a garden plant...

leaves. The tamalitos are then tied, and steamed in a pot.