Chiliatole P'urhépecha con Nurite

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal or heavy cast-iron skillet
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Clay olla or heavy 3-quart saucepan
• •Molinillo or wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the comal

   Set a dry comal over medium heat and let it warm slowly. In the Meseta P'urhépecha, this would sit over leña, with the fire controlled so the chile meets dry heat, not flame. On a modern stove, the principle is the same: heat the comal, then toast. Do not wave the chiles over a burner like a hurried person with no market manners.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Toast the chile ancho and chile guajillo separately, about 20 seconds per side, pressing them lightly with tongs until they soften, darken a shade, and smell full and raisiny. They should not blacken. The ancho gives body and a deep fruit flavor. The guajillo gives clean red color. This chiliatole is not about punishing heat. It is about corn, chile, salt, and nurite working together.

   If a chile scorches black, throw it out. Burned chile makes the whole jarro bitter. No me vengas con atajos.
3. 3

   Soften and blend

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 minutes. Hot water, not boiling. Drain them and blend with 1 cup fresh water until perfectly smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing the puree with a spoon. You want red chile flesh, not bits of skin floating in the drink.

4. 4

   Dissolve the masa

   Crumble the fresh nixtamal masa into 1 cup water and work it with your fingers or a molinillo until no lumps remain. Strain it if your masa is coarse. This is where many cooks fail because they dump masa straight into hot liquid and then complain about lumps. The masa has to open first. Así se hace y punto.

   Ask the tortillería for fresh white masa for tortillas, without salt and without lard. Prepared tamal masa already has fat and seasoning, and it does not belong here.
5. 5

   Build the chiliatole

   Pour the remaining 4 cups water into a clay olla or heavy saucepan. Add the strained chile puree and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring so the chile does not settle and stick. The liquid should turn brick red, not tomato red. There is no tomato here. This is a corn and chile drink from Michoacán.

6. 6

   Thicken with masa

   Lower the heat and pour in the masa slurry in a thin stream, stirring constantly with a molinillo or wooden spoon. Cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the chiliatole thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and the raw masa smell disappears. If it becomes too thick to drink from a jarro, add hot water a few tablespoons at a time. It should be generous and smooth, not stiff like porridge.

7. 7

   Add the nurite

   Add the bruised nurite leaves during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Keep the heat low. Nurite is a mountain herb, sharp like mint, oregano, and the cold edge of the Meseta all at once. Boil it hard and you flatten the perfume. Let it infuse, taste for salt, and remove any tough stems before serving.

   Nurite is not epazote. Epazote is useful, but it is not this dish. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
8. 8

   Serve with corunda

   Ladle the chiliatole into clay jarros while it is hot and set warm corundas beside it, still in their corn leaves if you have them. Tear the corunda and eat it with the salted atole. Not bread. Not pan dulce. Corunda. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Buy nurite in Michoacán markets if you can, especially around Pátzcuaro, Uruapan, Paracho, or the Meseta towns. Outside Mexico, ask growers who sell Mexican herbs. If you must substitute, use a little fresh Mexican oregano with one small mint sprig, but understand what happened: you left the Meseta.
• •Fresh nixtamal masa matters. Masa harina will work in a practical kitchen, but it tastes flatter. If using it, hydrate 2/3 cup masa harina with 3/4 cup warm water and let it rest 15 minutes before making the slurry.
• •Do not sweeten this. Piloncillo belongs in other atoles. This chiliatole takes salt because it is eaten with corunda as food, not treated like dessert.
• •If the finished chiliatole thickens as it sits, loosen it with hot water and stir over low heat. Do not boil it hard after the nurite goes in.

Advance Preparation

• •The toasted chile puree can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Warm it gently before adding it to the olla.
• •The masa slurry should be made right before cooking. If it sits too long, the corn settles and the texture becomes uneven.
• •Cooked chiliatole keeps refrigerated for two days. Reheat over low heat with a little hot water, stirring constantly, and add a few fresh nurite leaves at the end to wake it back up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 535g)