Chileajo de Verduras de Cuaresma

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles, garlic, and spices
• •High-powered blender
• •Heavy 4-quart cazuela de barro or Dutch oven
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium heat. Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles one or two at a time, pressing them flat against the hot surface with a spatula for about 20 to 30 seconds per side. They should puff, blister lightly, and fill the kitchen with a warm, earthy smell. Do not let them blacken. A burned chile turns bitter and there is no coming back from it. Transfer the toasted chiles to a heatproof bowl.

   The ancho is thicker and more forgiving than the guajillo. The guajillo is thinner and will scorch in seconds if you walk away. Stand at the comal and do not leave.
2. 2

   Soak the chiles

   Pour hot tap water over the toasted chiles, enough to submerge them completely. Hot water, not boiling. Boiling water cooks the skin and gives the sauce a harsh, rubbery bitterness. Let them soften for 20 minutes. They should be pliable enough to tear easily with your fingers. Drain and reserve about a cup of the soaking liquid in case your blender needs help.

3. 3

   Toast the garlic and spices

   While the chiles soak, place all the peeled garlic cloves on the same dry comal over medium heat. Toast them slowly, turning occasionally, for about 8 to 10 minutes. You want dark spots on the outside and a soft, sweet interior. The smell will shift from sharp to something almost nutty. On the same comal, toast the cumin seeds, peppercorns, and cloves for one to two minutes until fragrant. Do not burn the spices. They go from toasted to ruined in five seconds.

   Two heads of garlic is not a mistake. This is chileajo. The garlic is not a supporting player. It is the co-author of this dish alongside the chiles. Trust the recipe.
4. 4

   Blend the sauce

   Transfer the drained chiles, toasted garlic, toasted spices, chopped onion, dried oregano, pineapple vinegar, and one cup of the water or broth to a blender. Blend on high until you have a smooth, thick paste the color of dark clay. If the blender struggles, add soaking liquid one tablespoon at a time, just enough to keep the blades moving. You want a paste, not a soup. Taste it now. It should be assertive: sharp from the vinegar, deep from the chiles, warm from the garlic. If it tastes flat, add half a teaspoon more salt and blend again.

5. 5

   Fry the chile paste

   Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy cazuela, Dutch oven, or deep skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, pour in the chile paste all at once. It will sputter and pop. Stir constantly. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until the paste darkens by a shade, the oil starts to separate at the edges, and the raw vinegar smell cooks off into something rounder and deeper. This step is what separates a stew that tastes cooked from a stew that tastes blended. Do not skip it. No me vengas con atajos.

   Outside of Cuaresma, many Mixteca cooks fry this paste in manteca de cerdo. During Lent, vegetable oil is the traditional choice. The dish is built for either fat. Both are correct in their season.
6. 6

   Add the vegetables in stages

   Stir the remaining two cups of water or broth into the fried chile paste. Add the salt. Bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes and carrots first, they take the longest. Let them simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the chayote cubes. Five minutes later, add the cauliflower florets and the ejotes. Each vegetable needs its own time in the pot. If you dump them all in at once, the ejotes will be mush before the potatoes are cooked through. Stir gently so the florets don't break apart.

7. 7

   Simmer until tender

   Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot partially and let everything simmer for 15 to 20 more minutes, until the potatoes yield easily to a fork and the carrots are tender but not falling apart. The sauce should coat the vegetables in a thick, dark red-brown layer. It should not be soupy. If it looks thin, remove the lid and let it reduce for a few more minutes. If it looks too thick, add a splash of water. Taste for salt one final time. The vinegar may have shifted the balance as it cooked.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Take the pot off the heat and let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Like most chile-based stews, chileajo improves as it rests. The sauce tightens around the vegetables and the flavors settle. Serve directly from the cazuela at the table with a stack of warm corn tortillas. Each person takes what they want from the pot. That's how it's done in the Mixteca. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •The pineapple vinegar is not decoration. It is the ingredient that separates chileajo from every other guajillo-ancho stew in Mexico. Look for vinagre de pina at Mexican grocery stores or online. If you truly cannot find it, apple cider vinegar is the closest substitute, but you are losing the bright tropical acidity that defines the Mixteca version. White distilled vinegar is wrong for this dish. Do not use it.
• •Cut every vegetable to a size that lets it finish cooking at roughly the same time once staggered into the pot. Potatoes and carrots in thicker pieces because they go in first. Chayote slightly smaller because it is denser than it looks. Cauliflower and ejotes last because they cook fast. This is not fussiness. It is how a Mixteca cook manages a one-pot meal without a timer.
• •Chileajo tastes better the next day. The garlic and vinegar mellow overnight and the sauce clings tighter to the vegetables. Make this on a Saturday for Sunday's comida and you will taste the difference. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and the Mixteca knows how to wait for flavor.
• •If you are cooking outside of Cuaresma and want the meat version, use bone-in pork shoulder cut into chunks and simmer it in the sauce for an hour before adding the vegetables. The pork and the garlic together are extraordinary.

Advance Preparation

• •The chile-garlic paste can be made one day ahead and refrigerated in a sealed container. Fry it fresh on the day you cook the vegetables. The paste actually intensifies overnight as the garlic and vinegar marry.
• •The finished chileajo keeps refrigerated for up to four days and reheats well over low heat with a splash of water to loosen the sauce. The flavor only improves. It does not freeze well because the potatoes and chayote turn mealy when thawed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 315g)