My Aunt Coty’s Mole with Guajillos, Cocoa & Peanuts
- March 2021
- By Kendra Alfaro Ruiz
- Recipe from Mexico
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- (9)
This mole is the delicioso recipe that Kendra Alfaro Ruiz’s aunt made over and over for their family. She uses 12 guajillo chile and tweaked the ingredients over the years to her liking and it became her famous-family dish. ”My aunt’s name is Maria but her nickname is Coty. She is a pastry chef,” says Kendra, ”She was born and raised in Belize, but her mother is of Mexican decent—from Mérida, Yucatán. I hope you enjoy her mole!”
Mole is one of Mexico’s most recognizable and ancient dishes. Its ingredients and cooking process have pre-Hispanic roots, though tradition usually links it to two cities of origin: Puebla, credited as its birthplace, and Oaxaca, renowned for its seven moles. Can you name all siete? They are: amarillo, chichilo, coloradito, manchamantel (tablecloth-stainer), rojo, negro, and verde.
To try your hand at other preparations of this ancient meal some consider the national dish of Mexico, check out these family-favorite mole recipes submitted by the Familia Kitchen community! As just one example, consider the famous red mole recipe artists Frida Kahlo and Diego were served in La Casa Azul, their home in Coyoacán.
More than 50 variations of mole are said to exist, although there is no definitive culinary or official record. Lore also has it that each town in Mexico has its own traditional mole recipe—although again, there is no definitive source giving proof to each pueblo’s unique receta.
Curious to Try Aunt Coty’s Recipe Contest Winning Mole?
My Aunt Coty’s Mole with Guajillos, Cocoa and Peanuts
8 to 10
servings25
minutes1
hour20
minutesIngredients
12 guajillo chiles
1/4 cup lard, or vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced
8 cloves garlic
3 Roma tomatoes, roasted and peeled
1/4 cup peanuts, unsalted (or unsweetened peanut butter)
1 Tbsp Mexican oregano, dried and crushed
1 stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces
1/4 tsp anise seeds
3 black peppercorns, whole
1/4 tsp thyme
1 whole clove
1 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup raisins, soaked in water to soften
4 cups chicken broth, divided
1/4 cup prepared masa (raw corn tortilla dough)
toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
Directions
- Soak in hot water or boil the guajillo chiles for a few minutes. When they become soft and you can bend them, they are ready. Skin, stem and seed the chiles. Set aside.
- Heat the lard (or use vegetable oil, if you prefer) in a large skillet over medium-low to medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions turn translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. You do not want the onion to turn brown; adjust the temperature as necessary. When the onion softens enough to drape over your spatula, set the skillet aside.
- In a blender, puree the roasted tomatoes with the peanuts or, you can also use unsweetened peanut butter (see cooking Notes, below).
- Add the Mexican oregano, cinnamon, anise, peppercorns, thyme, clove and cocoa powder. Blend to make a smooth paste.
- Add the sautéd onions and garlic to the blender container and puree again.
- Add the chiles and raisins and blend into a smooth paste. Set the blended mix aside.
- Into a large saucepan, pour all of the chicken broth except for 1/4 cup.
- In a separate small bowl, make a roux by whisking the masa with the reserved 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Stir the roux into the broth in the large saucepan and whisk until smooth.
- Add the blended ingredients to the pan. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- Uncover and continue cooking until the mole turns thick.
- It’s ready! Scoop over chicken (let the chicken simmer in the mole sauce for added flavor) and serve with arroz and warm tortillas.
Notes
- If you don’t have unsalted peanuts, you can substitute the same amount of unsweetened peanut butter.
- You can tell this mole is old-school because my aunt’s recipe uses lard. If you want to use 2 to 3 Tbsp of vegetable oil instead, go for it.
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