Rosa’s Mole with Chicken, a Legendary Family Recipe Made with Amor

Mole is at the Mexican heart of Rosa Camarena’s cooking.

This abuela, mother and owner of her own restaurant, serves her famous deep-red mole seven days a week to her loyal customers at La Esperanza in Pilsen, Chicago’s traditionally Mexican neighborhood. They can’t get enough of her family recipe. It’s rich, earthy, with a hint of sweet, and just enough chile heat.

Rosa takes pride in scooping her mole over freshly cooked chicken, several kinds of tacos, chilaquiles, and so many other best-selling dishes on her menu. She also faithfully prepares this recipe for her family at home, on special occasions like Mexican Independence Day every Sept. 16, holidays, and birthdays, she says.

We Honor Rosa Camarena This National Hispanic Heritage Month

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Familia Kitchen was invited by our friends at Spanglish Asadero seasonings to shine a light on one of our favorite abuela’s traditional Mexican recipes in a special video series.

Of course, we immediately thought of Rosa! We asked, she accepted, and here we are today. We are beyond thrilled and honored to celebrate our beloved amiga and gifted abuela cocinera Rosa Camarena, who will show us how to make 3 of her most popular family recipes, which she hopes all fans of Mexican food will love.

The first dish she chose is her mole with chicken. The other recipes in this cooking series, which will be published in collaboration with Spanglish Asadero every Monday from Sept. 22 to Oct. 6 during National Hispanic Month, are two best-sellers at La Esperanza: carne asada and chicken fajitas.

“For me it’s a great honor to be able to share these recetas from my family. When I cook at the restaurant, the whole time I am praying that my food will be received with love by my customers. That it will touch their hearts and nurture their bodies. It’s such a privilege to be able to offer my food to you and my community,” says Rosa.

Today, Rosa is passing on her cocina smarts to her youngest daughter, Alejandra Morales, who works alongside her every day. “I think Ale is a better cook than me,” she grins.

The Secret to Rosa’s Recipe

What makes her mole, voted “People’s Choice Winner” in the Mole de Mayo festival in her community, so distinctly delicioso?

Perhaps it’s Rosa’s unique mix of chiles, Mexican chocolate, and 11 different seeds, nuts and spices, she says. And definitely it’s because you can taste how she makes her mole with love.

The four chiles called for in this recipe are: ancho, guajillo, puya, and “un toquecito” of famously burn-your-face-off-hot de árbol because “I like my chile picosito (spicy),” Rosa says. She offers this abuela-cooking tip: Be sure to keep an eye on the peppers when you are cooking them. “Chiles can turn bitter if cooked too long.”

All told, her mole recipe has 23 ingredients (Don’t let that scare you, says Rosa. A good amount of these are spices). She sautés the ingredients on the stovetop and tosses them into her blender to whir the bold flavors into a smooth sauce. Rosa then transfers the mixture to a huge stainless steel pot, adding chicken stock as needed and stirring constantly, as the mole simmers for 30 to 40 minutes.

A Calling to Feed Her Community

Feeding people is her life’s calling, Rosa explains. It’s her way of thanking God for the blessings she and her family have received. “Mole takes a little time to prepare, but then you see everyone’s smiles and know they love it. We will always cook con mucho amor and mucho gusto so that people leave really happy,” she says. “That is our mission. To make people really happy.”

“Mole is special for me because it’s so traditional,” Rosa adds. “This is an important dish in Mexican cuisine. We serve it for weddings and days like National Independence Day. My mother passed on the recipe to me, and I am passing it on to my children and my grandchildren. Though this mole, they will be able to understand what it is to be Mexican and learn about our culture.”

“My customers tell me they feel a sense of peace when they eat my food,” says Rosa. ”For me, it is a blessing and a joy to be able to feed my community’s bellies and hearts.”

”I think you will love it.”

Photos by Ronit Bezalel Photography
Video by Slow Blink Media

Ready to Make Rosa’s Award-Winning Mole Recipe?

Rosa’s Legendary Mole with Chicken, a Family Recipe Made with Amor

Recipe by Rosita Camarena

5.0 from 1 vote

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings

8 to 10

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

Cooking time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 15 guajillo chiles, dried

• 15 ancho chiles, dried

• 8 puya chiles, dried

• 5 chile de árbol chile, or to taste (optional)

• 1/2 onion, sliced thickly

• 1 tomato, quartered

• 5 cloves garlic

• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, shelled and toasted

• 1/4 cup peanuts

• 1/4 cup almonds

• 1/4 cup raisins

• 1 Tbsp oregano

• 1 tsp allspice, whole

• 1/2 tsp cloves, whole

• 1/4 stick cinnamon

• 1 pinch cumin, ground

• 1 tsp black pepper, whole

• salt, to taste

• 1/2 bolillo (Mexican bread)

• 1 cup vegetable oil, divided

• 1 tablet Mexican chocolate (Rosa uses Abuelita)

• 3 to 4 cups chicken broth, from chicken pot, below

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted

• For the Chicken

• 1 whole chicken, chopped into 8 pieces

• water, to cover

• 1/2 onion, quartered

• 1/2 head garlic

• 2 bay leaf

• 2 tsp salt, or to taste

Directions

• Prep the Mole Ingredients
• Stem, seed and slice open the chiles: ancho, guajillo, puya (plus optional de árbol, if using). Set aside.
• Chop the onion and tomato into quarters. Set aside.
• Measure all other ingredients into small bowls and have them ready to sauté and blend.
• Boil the Chicken
• Place chicken pieces in large pot. Fill with water to cover.
• Add onion, garlic, bay leaves and salt.
• Simmer for about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
• Set aside and reserve 3 to 4 cups of cooking broth.
• Sauté the Mole Ingredients
• In a large saucepan on medium heat, add about 1/3 cup vegetable oil.
• Add the chiles and sauté until they become soft and darken in color, about 3 minutes. Don’t overcook or the chiles will taste bitter, warns Rosa. Set aside in a large bowl.
• In the same pan, add the onion and tomatoes. Sauté for about 6 minutes, until they soften. Set aside in same bowl.
• In the same pan, add pumpkin seeds, peanuts and almonds. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Set aside in same bowl. (Add a little vegetable oil if the pan is getting dry.)
• Add raisins and bolillo bread. Sauté for about 3 minutes until soft and golden. Set aside in same bowl.
• In a different pan without oil, dry-toast sesame seeds for about 3 minutes, until they turn light brown. Set aside in a separate small bowl.
• Blend the Mole Sauce
• In blender, add sautéed chiles, onions, tomatoes and spices. Add the toasted sesame seeds. Add 1 to 2 cups broth from chicken pot. Blend for about 1 minute, until ingredients are well mixed and creamy.
• Add the seeds, nuts, raisins, bread, and 1 more cup chicken broth. Blend well.
• Cook the Mole Sauce
• In a large pot on medium-low heat, add the last 1/3 cup vegetable oil over medium low.
• Pour in the blended mole mixture. Stir as it heats up.
• Warm the chocolate for 30 seconds in a microwave to hydrate it. Add to mole pot and gently stir into the mole sauce. Add 1 to 2 more cups of chicken broth if sauce is too thick.
• Rosa recommends using a wooden spoon and stirring the mole frequently — in just one circular direction, as is traditional. Perhaps it deepens the flavor, Rosa says, smiling.
• Let the mole simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
• Ready to Serve
• Using tongs, place the cooked chicken pieces on one large platter or individual serving plates.
• With a large spoon, pour mole sauce over the chicken. “Generosamente,” says Rosa — generously, to fully cover the chicken.
• Garnish with toasted sesame seeds. Serve with warm tortillas on the side. “I think you will love it,” says Rosa.

Notes

• Rosa says the most important ingredient in this recipe is love. “We cook from the heart,” says Ale, her daughter. “Cocinamos de corazón.”