Mole Poblano

The Method for Mole Poblano

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1. Toast the dried chillies in a dry pan over medium heat for 30 seconds a side until they smell sweet — do not let them blacken or the whole mole will be bitter. Soak in hot water for 30 minutes.

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2. In the same pan, toast the almonds, peanuts, sesame and pumpkin seeds separately, each until fragrant, and set aside in a bowl.

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3. Fry the plantain slices, tortilla pieces and bread in a little lard until golden, then add to the bowl.

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4. Char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic until blackened in patches.

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5. Toast the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns and aniseed for 30 seconds, then grind to a powder.

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6. Blend the soaked chillies with 400 ml stock until smooth and sieve. Separately blend the nut, seed, fruit and vegetable mixture with 600 ml stock until very smooth, and sieve.

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7. Heat the remaining lard in a large heavy pot until shimmering. Fry the chilli purée for 10 minutes, stirring constantly as it spits and darkens.

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8. Add the nut purée and the ground spices and fry for a further 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent catching.

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9. Add the remaining stock, the chocolate, sugar and salt. Simmer gently, partly covered, for 45 minutes, stirring regularly, until the mole coats a spoon thickly and a slick of red oil rises to the surface.

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10. Add the poached chicken and warm through for 10 minutes. Serve with rice and a scattering of sesame seeds.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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What Can Go Wrong

1. A single burnt chilli will make the entire batch bitter. Toast them one variety at a time and be ruthless.
2. Make the sauce a day or two ahead; it improves dramatically and the texture settles.
3. A blender is fine, but pass everything through a sieve — texture is what separates good mole from great.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

Good to Know About Mole Poblano

Every component is toasted or fried separately because each has a different ideal browning point — seeds burn in seconds, chillies in a minute, plantain takes several. Frying the finished purée in lard for a final twenty minutes is what marries the layers into one sauce rather than a blend of many.

What to Serve It With

A rich Mexican beer or a Rioja · Serve with white rice and warm corn tortillas · Finish with flan

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Refried Beans, Cilantro Lime Rice, Instant Pot Black Beans.

Leftovers

The mole base keeps 1 week refrigerated and freezes 6 months. Freeze it in portions; a small block turns any weeknight chicken into a feast.

Quick Answers

What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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