← Nouns Cooking · Mexican

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg bone-in chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks)
• ½ white onion
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 tsp Salt
• 5 dried ancho (or mulato) chillies, stemmed and seeded
• 4 Dried pasilla chillies, stemmed and seeded
• 2 Dried guajillo chillies, stemmed and seeded
• 4 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
• 50 g sesame seeds, plus extra to garnish
• 40 g skin-on almonds
• 40 g Raisins
• 1 slice white bread (or a stale corn tortilla)
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 3 Tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• ½ white onion, thickly sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic, peeled
• ½ tsp Cinnamon
• ¼ tsp Black pepper
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 40 g Mexican chocolate (or dark chocolate), chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar, or to taste
• cooked rice and warm tortillas, to serve

Method

1. Put the chicken, onion, garlic and salt in a large pot, cover with about 2 litres of water and bring to a simmer. Poach gently for 35–40 min, until cooked through (75°C / 165°F). Lift out the chicken and keep the stock.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of the lard in a frying pan over medium heat. Press the chillies flat in the fat for a few seconds per side, just until they smell toasty and blister; burnt chillies turn the mole bitter. Soak them in hot water for 30 min.
3. In the same pan, toast the sesame seeds for 2–3 min, until golden, and tip into a bowl. Fry the almonds for 3 min, then the raisins until they puff, then the bread until browned, adding a little more fat as needed. Add them all to the sesame.
4. Char the tomatoes, tomatillos, sliced onion and garlic in a dry pan or under a hot grill for 10 min, turning, until soft and blackened in spots.
5. Drain the chillies and blend them with 500 ml of the chicken stock until completely smooth. Separately, blend the nut mixture, charred vegetables, cinnamon, pepper, cloves and chocolate with another 500 ml stock into a thick purée.
6. Heat the remaining lard in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Pour in the chilli purée (it will splutter) and stir constantly for 5 min, until darker and thick. Add the nut purée and cook, stirring, for 5 min more.
7. Whisk in 750 ml more stock, lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 45 min, stirring often so it doesn’t catch. It should coat a spoon like thick cream; loosen with stock if needed. Season with salt and the sugar.
8. Slip the chicken into the mole and simmer for 10 min, until heated through. Serve sprinkled with toasted sesame, with rice and tortillas.

Tips

• Contains tree nuts and sesame. For gluten-free mole, use a stale corn tortilla instead of the bread.
• Mole tastes even better the next day, and the sauce freezes well for 3 months.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Rick Bayless BBC Good Food