Chef's Knife - For efficient cutting and chopping of vegetables like onions, garlic, and peppers.
Cutting Board - Essential for safely preparing all the ingredients without damaging your countertop.
Mixing Bowls (Set) - Useful for mixing spices, herbs, and other mole components together.
Mortar & Pestle - Traditional tool used to grind nuts or seeds that might be part of the mole recipe.
Measuring Cups & Spoons Set - To accurately measure out ingredients for the mole sauce.
Blender - For pureeing any soft components like tomatoes or chilies as per the recipe's needs.
Dutch Oven (Cast Iron) - Ideal for slow-cooking the chicken in mole, allowing flavors to meld well.
Food Processor with Slicing Blade - To quickly and finely dice or slice any hard vegetables needed.
Stainless Steel Pot - For boiling water or other components of the recipe that require precise cooking temperatures.
Glass Baking Dish (with lid) - Suitable for roasting chicken in mole if it's a variation with baking involved.
4 pounds chicken pieces, skin on
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish
white rice
Makes 9 cups.
9 mulato chiles*
7 pasilla chiles*
6 ancho chiles*
1 cup plus 9 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard plus additional as needed
4 or 5 tomatillos,** husked and cooked until soft
5 whole cloves
20 whole black peppercorns
1-inch piece of a Mexican cinnamon stick***
1 tablespoon seeds from the chiles, toasted
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
8 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
4 garlic cloves, roasted
3 tablespoons raisins
20 whole almonds, blanched
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds****
2 corn tortillas, torn into pieces
3 stale French rolls, cut into 1-inch slices
6 to 7 cups reserved chicken broth as needed
1 1/2 ounces Mexican chocolate, chopped
*Mulato, pasilla, and ancho chiles are three varieties of dried chiles often used in Mexican cooking. The ancho chile (a poblano that has ripened to a dark red color and dried) is rust-colored, broad at the stem and narrowing to a triangular tip. The mulato, a relative to the poblano, is dark brown and triangular. The shiny black pasilla chile, a dried chilaca chile, is narrow and five to six inches long. Good quality chiles should be fragrant and pliable. Wipe them carefully with a damp cloth or a paper towel to remove any dust.
**Tomatillos are often referred to as "green tomatoes," but are members of the gooseberry family. To prepare tomatillos for the salsa, remove their papery husks and rinse away their sticky outer coating. Or, canned whole tomatillos are available under the San Marcos brand.
***Mexican cinnamon, known as canela, is the bark of the true cinnamon tree, native to Sri Lanka. It is sold in very thin and somewhat flaky curled sticks and is much softer than the more common variant of cinnamon, which comes from the bark of the cassia tree.
****Also known as pepitas, the pumpkin seeds used in Mexican cooking are hulled. When frying or toasting pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet, keep a cover handy, as they will pop like popcorn.
I publish delicious recipes that most of the times required 10 ingredients or less and 30 minutes or less to prepare.
About