Sort and rinse the dry black beans. Put them in a pot along with the bay leaves and cover with 7 cups of water.

Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low. Cover and let it simmer for two hours or until the beans are tender.

Now that the beans are tender heat up a skillet over medium high heat and toast the Morita peppers on both sides. This will take less than a minute.

Transfer the toasted peppers to the pot of beans to soften in the hot broth.

Crush enough pork cracklings to get 1 cup of crushed pork cracklings.

Transfer the softened morita peppers to a blender along with 1 1/2 cups of cooked black beans and 2 cups of bean broth. Add the chicken bouillon powder and ground cumin. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the Maseca, chicken bouillon and 1 tbs of olive oil. Next add the crumbled hoja santa leaves. Then add the crushed pork cracklings. Mix with your hands until well combined.

Continue to mix and knead the dough while slowly adding the water. The texture of the dough should be firm and moist. Not too wet and not too dry.

Heat up two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté diced onion until they start to turn nice and translucent. Season with salt.

Add in the garlic cloves using a garlic press. Cook the onions and garlic together for about another minute or so to get their flavors out.

Next add the blended black bean mixture. Then add the rest of the beans and broth to the pot. Add the epazote along with the remaining 7 cups of water. Cover and cook on medium low heat.

To make dumplings, grab a small amount of the dough and form it into a ball between the palms of your hands.

Poke a little hole into the top of it with your thumb. You want to make sure your dumplings are more or less the same size so they will cook evenly. You should have around 26 dumplings.

Now add the dumplings to the pot of soup. Taste the broth for salt and add some if needed.

Bring the soup to a boil over medium high heat. Cover and let it simmer on medium low for about 20 minutes or so. The soup is done when the dumplings float to the surface.

Serve and enjoy.

Once the soup cools transfer it to a bowl with a tight fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for 3 days.