Recipe contributed by Chef Carlos Rosas
Ingredients
- 2 cups lard (preferably organic), for frying
- 1 small sweet bread roll or croissant
- 3 ounces raw almonds, skins removed
- 3 ounces raw peanuts or walnuts
- 4 ounces sesame seeds
- 1 medium plantain, sliced into ½-inch rounds
- 1½ white onions, roasted
- 10 cloves garlic, roasted
- 10 dried chiles chihuales or mulatos, seeded (seeds reserved), deveined and soaked in water
- 10 dried chiles pasillas, preferably black pasillas, seeded (seeds reserved), deveined and soaked in water
- 2 dried chiles chipotles, seeded (seeds reserved), deveined and soaked in water
- 2 to 3 tablespoons mixed seeds from above chiles, roasted
- 6 avocado leaves
- ¼ teaspoon dried anise seed, roasted
- 1 tablespoon whole allspice, roasted
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, roasted
- 4 large plum tomatoes, roasted
- 4 corn tortillas, charred lightly over an open flame
- 1½ to 2 quarts chicken broth, skimmmed of fat
- 4 white onions, thickly sliced
- Salt, to taste
- 3 to 4 ounces Mexican 70% chocolate, or cacao
- 4 (½-inch) pieces of cinnamon stick
Preparation
Heat a little lard in a skillet. Fry the sweet roll until brown on the outside, then remove and drain on paper towels.
Add the almonds, peanuts and sesame seeds to the same skillet and fry (this will happen quickly, so be careful not to burn them). Remove and drain on paper towels.
Add a little more lard to the skillet and fry the plantain slices. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Place the roasted onion, garlic and soaked chiles in a blender or food processor. Add enough of the water in which chiles were soaked to facilitate blending. Set chile mixture aside.
In a blender or food processor, blend the toasted roll, almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, plantain, chile seeds, avocado leaves, anise, allspice, peppercorn, tomatoes and tortillas with enough broth (about 1 or 2 cups) to blend smoothly. Blend in batches if necessary. Strain mixture through a fine sieve and reserve.
Put remaining lard in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion slices until brown. Remove onion from pan. Into the hot pan, carefully pour the nut-spice mixture and fry over low heat until fat begins to rise to the surface. Add the chile mixture and continue cooking over low heat until fat rises to the surface. Add salt, to taste. Add chocolate and as much of the remaining broth as necessary to make a mole the consistency of thick cream.
About this recipe
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Serve mole over stewed turkey, chicken or pork, alongside the browned onion slices and additonal tortillas.
