Mole Poblano

Mole Poblano de Puebla

The legendary sauce from Puebla: a slow-simmered blend of dried chillies, seeds, nuts, spices and a hint of chocolate, ladled over poached chicken or turkey. It is a project, not a weeknight dish — start the day before you plan to serve it.

Prep

90 min

Cook

180 min

Total

270 min

Serves

6 to 8

Difficulty

Hard

Recipe ingredients

• •150 g (5¼ oz) dried mulato chillies, stems and seeds removed
• •100 g (3½ oz) dried ancho chillies, stems and seeds removed
• •50 g (1¾ oz) dried pasilla chillies, stems and seeds removed
• •25 g (1 oz) dried chipotle chillies (mora), optional, for smoke; can substitute 1 chipotle in adobo
• •1.5 kg (3¼ lb) whole chicken or turkey pieces (legs and thighs), skin on
• •1 whole (1 medium) white onion, halved
• •4 cloves garlic
• •2 bay leaves bay leaves, Mexican laurel if available
• •30 g (¼ cup) sesame seeds
• •30 g (3 tbsp) raw peanuts (skinned)
• •40 g (⅓ cup) raw almonds (blanched)
• •40 g (¼ cup) raisins, sultanas
• •25 g (2 tbsp) pumpkin seeds (pepitas), raw, hulled
• •1 small corn tortilla, torn, thickener; use stale if possible
• •1 whole small ripe plantain or ½ banana, tradition varies; optional but recommended
• •15 g (2 tbsp) Mexican chocolate (abuelita or similar), roughly chopped; contains sugar and cinnamon
• •1 tsp ground cinnamon (canela), Mexican canela preferred
• •0.5 tsp (½ tsp) ground cloves
• •0.5 tsp (½ tsp) ground cumin
• •0.5 tsp (½ tsp) dried Mexican oregano
• •1 pinch ground achiote (annatto), optional, for colour
• •60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil (lard or sunflower), lard is traditional
• •30 g (2 tbsp) sesame seed paste (tahini) or lard
• •1 L (4 cups (approx)) light chicken stock or reserved poaching liquid, use the broth from poaching the chicken
• •fine sea salt, to taste
• •sugar or piloncillo, to taste, only if needed to balance acidity
• •toasted sesame seeds and fresh coriander, to garnish

Steps

1. 1 Tear open the chillies, shake out and discard the seeds, and remove the stems. Toast the pods a few at a time in a dry heavy pan over medium heat for 8 to 12 seconds per side — press flat with tongs so they toast evenly — until fragrant and just slightly puffed. Do not let them blacken, or the sauce turns bitter.
2. 2 Place the toasted chillies in a bowl, cover with just-boiled water, weight them down with a small plate, and soak for 25 to 30 minutes until soft. Reserve 250 ml (1 cup) of the soaking liquid; drain the rest.
3. 3 While the chillies soak, poach the chicken: place the pieces in a pot with the halved onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 bay leaf and 1 tsp salt. Cover with cold water, bring to a bare simmer, and cook 35 to 45 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 74°C (165°F) with no pink at the bone. Lift the chicken out, strain and reserve at least 1 L (4 cups) of the broth, and let the meat cool just enough to handle. Keep the skin on if you can; it carries flavour.
4. 4 In the same dry pan, toast the sesame seeds, peanuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds and torn tortilla separately over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until each is golden and aromatic — 1 to 3 minutes per ingredient. Add the raisins for the last 30 seconds to plump. Do this in batches and tip each into a bowl as it finishes; the tortilla should be crisp and lightly browned.
5. 5 In a blender, combine the softened chillies (with 125 ml / ½ cup of their soaking liquid), the toasted seeds, nuts, raisins, crisp tortilla, remaining 2 garlic cloves, the plantain, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, oregano, achiote if using, sesame paste, chocolate and 250 ml (1 cup) of the reserved chicken broth. Blend to a thick, gritty paste, working in batches if needed. It should look like a coarse, dark nut butter; if your blender stalls, add another splash of broth.
6. 6 Heat the oil (or lard) in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Pour in the blended paste and cook, stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon, for 15 to 20 minutes. The paste will sputter, darken, and start to smell roasty and unified rather than raw chilli. This frying step is the soul of the mole — do not rush it.
7. 7 Add the remaining 750 ml (3 cups) of chicken broth and the second bay leaf. Bring to a gentle simmer, reduce the heat to low, partially cover, and simmer for 1 to 1½ hours, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent sticking. The sauce should reduce to a thick, glossy, gravy-like consistency that coats the back of a spoon.
8. 8 Taste for seasoning: add salt slowly (a teaspoon at a time) until the mole tastes round rather than flat. If it leans bitter or acidic, add a teaspoon of sugar or crumbled piloncillo; if it tastes dull, a small pinch more cinnamon helps. Adjust until the flavour is deep, slightly sweet, faintly smoky, with the chocolate detectable only as a rounding warmth rather than as 'chocolate sauce'.
9. 9 For the smoothest texture, pass the mole through a fine-mesh sieve or conical strainer (chinois), pressing with the back of a ladle and discarding the fibrous bits. Traditional cooks often skip this for a more rustic sauce — your call.
10. 10 To serve, nestle pieces of poached chicken (or turkey) in a wide shallow bowl, ladle the hot mole generously over and around, and scatter with toasted sesame seeds and a few sprigs of coriander. Mole is classically served with warm corn tortillas and white rice on the side; the rice absorbs the sauce beautifully. The flavour improves on standing, so leftovers (refrigerated up to 3 days, or frozen up to 2 months) are a genuine reward.
11. 11 Food safety note on the chillies: this sauce is fully cooked. The chicken must reach 74°C (165°F) internally; cool leftovers within 2 hours and reheat to a full simmer before serving. If using banana or plantain, ensure it is fully ripe (yellow with black spots) to avoid astringency.