A complex sauce of chilies, seeds and chocolate, mole poblano (pronounced moh-lay
poh-blah-no) often tops chicken, turkey and cheese enchiladas. This recipe makes more
sauce than you need for the chicken—about 7 cups— but the leftovers freeze well.
HANDS-ON TIME
45 minutes
TOTAL TIME
2½ hours
MAKES
6 servings
INGREDIENTS
MOLE POBLANO:
- 4 ancho chilies
- 3 mulato chilies
- 3 pasilla or guajillo chilies
- 3 tbsp lard
- 5 cups boiling water
- ⅓ cup each pepitas and slivered almonds
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp each ground coriander, ground aniseed, ground cloves and pepper
- 1 small (6-inch/15 cm) corn tortilla (or ⅓ cup crushed tortilla chips)
- 5 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tbsp golden raisins
- 2 tsp salt
- 30 g Mexican or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
CHICKEN WITH MOLE:
- 1.8 kg bone-in chicken pieces
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
PREPARATION
MOLE POBLANO:
- Remove seeds and veins from ancho, mulato and pasilla chilies.
- In a large heavy skillet, melt 1 tsp of the lard over medium-high heat; fry chilies, turning often, until beginning to blister, about 1 minute.
- Transfer chilies to a large heatproof bowl; cover with boiling water and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Pour the chilies and soaking water into a blender; purée and transfer to a bowl. (Do not clean blender.)
- In a dry skillet, toast pepitas and almonds over medium heat, shaking pan often, until golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a separate bowl.
- Repeat toasting with sesame seeds for 2 minutes; add to pepita mixture.
- In a shallow Dutch oven, melt remaining lard over medium heat; fry onion, garlic, cinnamon, coriander, aniseed, cloves, and pepper, stirring often, until golden, about 5 minutes.
- Tear tortilla into pieces; add to Dutch oven along with tomatoes, raisins, and pepita mixture. Fry, stirring often, until tomatoes are softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in chili mixture and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered and stirring often, until reduced to 7 cups, about 25 minutes.
- Stir in chocolate until melted. Let cool slightly.
- Working in batches, in blender, purée until smooth.
- Set aside 2 cups of the sauce for chicken; save the remainder for another use. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.)
CHICKEN WITH MOLE:
- Sprinkle chicken with salt.
- In a shallow Dutch oven, heat lard over medium-high heat; working in batches, brown chicken, 4 to 5 minutes per batch.
- Drain off fat.
- Pour reserved mole poblano over chicken; bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, turning chicken once, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced, about 40 minutes.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION, PER SERVING (WITHOUT SKIN): about 310 cal, 31 g pro, 17 g
total fat (5 g sat. fat), 8 g carb, 3 g fibre, 100 mg chol, 520 mg sodium. % RDI: 3%
calcium, 19% iron, 18% vit A, 3% vit C, 9% folate.
TIP FROM THE TEST KITCHEN
Look for the chilies and Mexican chocolate in fine food
stores, Latin American grocery stores and the Mexican
section of some supermarkets.
