Mole Poblano with Chicken
Mains · Serves 8 · Prep 1 hr · Cook 2 hr · Total 3 hr
Three kinds of dried chiles, toasted nuts, seeds, spices and a little Mexican chocolate, ground together and cooked down into a dark, glossy sauce that is smoky, a touch sweet and very deep. It takes an afternoon, it keeps for days, and it tastes even better the next day.
Ingredients
The Chicken
- 4 lb bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 1/2 white onion
- 3 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 10 cup water
The Mole
- 6 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 5 dried mulato chiles, stemmed and seeded (or 5 more anchos)
- 4 dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 1 chipotle in adobo
- 6 tbsp lard or vegetable oil, divided
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds, plus more to garnish
- 1/4 cup raw almonds
- 1/4 cup raw peanuts
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1 stale corn tortilla, torn
- 1 slice bolillo or white bread
- 1/2 tsp anise seed
- 1/4 tsp coriander seed
- 4 whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 canela stick, about 2 inches (or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 2 tomatillos, husked
- 1/2 white onion, thickly sliced
- 4 clove garlic
- 3 oz Mexican chocolate, chopped (or bittersweet chocolate plus 1 extra tsp sugar)
- 1 tbsp sugar, or to taste
- salt, to taste
Steps
The Chicken
- Put the chicken, onion, garlic and salt in a large pot with the water. Simmer until the chicken reaches 165°F, 30 to 35 minutes. Lift out the chicken and strain the broth; you need about 6 cups.
The Mole
- Heat 2 tablespoons lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry the ancho, mulato and pasilla chiles a few at a time, just until they blister and smell toasty, 5 to 10 seconds per side. Burnt chiles make a bitter mole, so pull them early. Soak in 3 cups hot broth for 20 minutes.
- In the same skillet, toast the sesame seeds until golden, about 2 minutes. Then fry the almonds and peanuts until browned, 3 minutes; the raisins until puffed, 30 seconds; and the tortilla and bread until crisp. Add the anise, coriander, cloves, peppercorns and canela for the last minute.
- Char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic in a dry skillet until blistered all over, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Blend the chiles with their soaking broth and the chipotle until very smooth, then strain. Separately blend the nut and spice mixture with the charred vegetables and 1 cup broth until smooth, and strain.
- Heat the remaining 4 tablespoons lard in a heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chile purée (it will spit) and stir constantly until it darkens and thickens, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the nut purée and cook, stirring, 5 minutes more.
- Stir in the chocolate and 2 cups broth. Simmer over low heat, stirring often and scraping the bottom, until the mole coats a spoon and a sheen of fat rises to the top, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Thin with more broth if needed, then balance with salt and sugar.
- Add the chicken and simmer 10 minutes to heat through. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds, with rice and warm tortillas.