Mole de Pollo de Bautizo P'urhépecha

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Comal de leña or heavy cast iron comal
• •Large stockpot for the chicken broth
• •Black-clay cazuela of Patamban or heavy Dutch oven
• •High-powered blender
• •Medium-fine mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the broth

   Put the chicken pieces in a large pot with the cold water, halved onion, halved head of garlic, bay leaves, thyme, mejorana, and salt. Bring it to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the gray foam during the first 15 minutes. Cook until the chicken is just tender, 35 to 45 minutes, pulling breast pieces early if they finish first. Strain and save the broth. Keep the chicken covered so it does not dry out.

   Gallina de rancho gives a stronger broth, but it takes longer. If you use it, simmer until the meat softens, not until the clock says so.
2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Wipe the guajillo, ancho, and pasilla chiles with a dry cloth, then toast them separately. The guajillo needs about 15 to 20 seconds per side, the ancho a little longer, and the pasilla burns fastest. The skins should puff and smell deep, never blacken. Cover the toasted chiles with hot water and soak for 20 minutes. Drain them. Use broth for blending, not the soaking water, which can carry bitterness.

3. 3

   Roast the vegetables

   On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, sliced onion, and unpeeled garlic cloves. Turn them until the tomatoes blister, the onion softens at the edges, and the garlic cloves feel tender under their skins. Peel the garlic. This is where the mole begins to taste like fogón instead of blender.

4. 4

   Fry the seeds

   Melt 2 tablespoons of manteca de cerdo in a wide skillet over medium heat. Fry the sesame seeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, bolillo pieces, toasted tortillas, and raisins in batches until the seeds smell nutty and the bread turns golden. Move each batch to a bowl as it finishes. Toast the canela, cloves, allspice, peppercorns, cumin, and Mexican oregano for 20 to 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Do not wander off. Burned spice takes over the whole cazuela.

   La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil will cook the ingredients, yes, but it will not give the same body or perfume to the mole.
5. 5

   Blend the mole

   Blend the soaked chiles, roasted tomatoes, roasted onion, peeled garlic, fried seeds, bread, tortillas, raisins, and toasted spices in batches with about 4 cups of the reserved chicken broth. Blend longer than you think. The sauce should be smooth enough to coat a spoon without gritty chile skin. Strain it through a medium-fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on the solids. This is work. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.

6. 6

   Fry the paste

   Heat the remaining 4 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a black-clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the strained mole puree carefully. It will sputter. Stir with a wooden spoon for 12 to 15 minutes, until the color deepens to brick red and the fat begins to shine at the edges. This refrying is not decoration. It cooks the raw chile taste out and gives the sauce authority. Así se hace y punto.

7. 7

   Braise the chicken

   Add 3 to 4 more cups of chicken broth, little by little, until the mole loosens into a thick sauce. Stir in the chopped chocolate de metate and grated piloncillo. Taste for salt. Add the cooked chicken pieces and simmer gently for 20 to 25 minutes, spooning sauce over the top, until the chicken is fully coated and the thickest pieces register 165F. The sauce should cling to the meat, not run like soup.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Turn off the heat and let the mole rest for 30 minutes. Mole needs that pause. The chile, cacao, seed, and chicken broth settle into each other. Rewarm gently if needed, then scatter toasted sesame seeds over the top. Serve family-style in the cazuela with arroz rojo and corundas or hand-pressed corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. They do not belong on this Meseta table. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy guajillo chiles that bend before they break. If they crack like dry leaves, they are old and your mole will taste dusty. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •This mole should taste deep, red, and rounded, not punishing. Guajillo gives color, ancho gives fruit, pasilla gives a darker edge, and cacao supports the sauce. If chocolate is the first thing you taste, you used too much.
• •Commercial sweet chocolate tablets are a compromise, not an upgrade. If that is all you can find, use less piloncillo and expect a sweeter mole. Better is chocolate de metate or unsweetened Mexican chocolate.
• •For a baptism crowd, double the sauce and fry it in batches. A crowded cazuela cools too quickly and the mole will taste raw. The women in Zacán and Cherán know this because they cook for real gatherings, not for tiny plates.
• •This mole contains peanuts and sesame. For a table with allergies, omit the peanuts and increase the pumpkin seeds, but say plainly that the texture changes. A substitution is a compromise.
• •Serve it with corundas or warm corn tortillas from nixtamal masa. The milpa belongs on this table. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken broth can be made one day ahead. Refrigerate the broth and chicken separately, then skim any firm fat from the broth only if there is too much. Leave some. Flavor lives there.
• •The mole sauce can be made two days ahead before adding the chicken. Refrigerate it in a covered container. Reheat slowly with broth, then add the chicken and simmer until fully coated.
• •For a bautizo, make the sauce the day before. Mole improves overnight. The day of the celebration is for reheating, warming corundas, setting the loza de barro on the table, and feeding people without panic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 560g)