Arcelia’s Jalisco-Style Mole with Chile Guajillo & Ancho
- February 2021
- By Arcelia Lomelí Navarro
- Recipe from Mexico
-
- (3)
This Jalisco-style mole was sent in by a daughter of Arcelia Lomelí Navarro. ”My parents are from Jalisco, and this is how we make our mole,” says the California-based daughter, who asked to remain anonymous and only use her mother’s name. ”We make it often—as it’s one of our family’s favorite dishes.”
”We also use it for filling for our tamales. The only difference is that we add a bit more flour to thicken it. We use flour because we don’t always have access to masa. If you have masa—use it instead of the flour and no need to toast it. But definitely strain it when you mix it with the ingredients before putting into your pot or big caserola.”
As to meat, we sometimes make it with only chicken, sometimes only pork. The traditional way is using pork: especially espinazo—or pork backbone. If we make it with espinazo, we add nopales cut up in strips. But you can use either meat.
I would like to give 100% credit to my mother for teaching her four daughters the recipes and traditions that she has learned from her mother. We love tradition and are now passing these recipes and traditions to the next generation, her grandchildren.
My mother’s name is Arcelia Lomelí Navarro and she is originally from a small town in Jalisco named Capilla de Milpillas (the closest larger city nearby is Tepatitlán). We proudly present our mother’s mole. We hope you enjoy it!
Ready to Make this Jalisco-Style Mole Amarillo?
Arcelia’s Jalisco-Style Mole with Chile Guajillo & Ancho
8 to 10
servings30
minutes1
hourIngredients
2 cups flour
3 lbs chicken or pork, cut into small pieces. (If pork, consider using espinazo or pork backbone—if you do, add nopales)
water, to cover meat when boiling
3 chiles guajillo, seeds removed
1 chile ancho, seeds removed
1 tomato
1/2 cup water, to boil chiles and tomato
1 onion
1 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup nopales, diced (optional, if using espinazo)
1 tsp salt
Directions
- Toast the flour on a dry nonstick pan for a few minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.
- Take your chicken and/or pork pieces and place in a pan with water to cover. Bring to a gentle boil and let simmer, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked through. Set aside.
- In a pan, place the guajillos, ancho and tomato with the half cup of water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Once cooked, place the chiles and tomato plus 1/4 of onion, and the garlic clove in a blender. Blend for a minute. Put this mixture through a strainer to remove any small pieces of the blend that didn’t liquify.
- Place the following in the blender: the blended chile sauce, toasted flour and the broth from the meat you cooked separately. Blend a little at a time, until smooth. Set aside.
- Putting It All Together
- In a large pot or caserola, add the oil and let it warm up on the burner. The pan must not be too hot or too cool—make sure it’s on medium to medium-low heat—before pouring the mix into pan.You have to stir immediately and quickly in the beginning and then move to a slow stir once you have all ingredients mixed. If not, the flour will start balling up.
- Continue to add the broth to thin the mole out, a bit at a time. Just pour enough to get the consistency you want and how much you want to make. Remember: the flour will make it thicker as it simmers. If you add too much liquid, it will thin out. Your flame has to remain on low when you pour the ingredients into your pot.
- Only once you start seeing the mixture begin to simmer, while you never stopping from stirring slowly, can you add the meat.
- Once the meat has been added, you can stop stirring and let it come to a gentle boil. Let it simmer for half an hour.
- If you are using nopales, add them now. Let them simmer for 5 minutes.
- With practice you will know how to adjust to your taste. We don’t measure when we make this mole in my family. These are my best approximations.
- Don’t forget to taste and see if it needs a little more salt before serving!
Notes
- Sometimes my mom uses chayotes when she makes this mole with pork, instead of the nopales.
Like This
EN 
ES
Got a question or suggestion?
Please rate this recipe and leave any tips, substitutions, or Qs you have!
Suggestions and questions from our readers
hello! is the recipe correct with 2 CUPS of flour?
We will confirm with its cook right now! Stay tuned…
Confirming! That is the correct amount. When it is toasted it gets incorporated into the sauce. Let us know how it turns out!
Thelma, just heard back from the homecook who sent this family recipe. She adds this cooking tip: “If they try this recipe and they believe it doesn’t have the consistency they want, they can add more flour for a thicker mole. Hope that helps!”