Mole amarillo with autumn vegetables

• 1 hour 10 minutes
• Prep 25 minutes
• Cook 45 minutes
• Serves 4

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

• Vegan
• Vegetarian
• Gluten free
• Dairy free

Ingredients

• 6 dried guajillo chillies (mild, fruity, brick red dried chillies)
• 2 tomatoes
• 150g tinned tomatillos (tart green husk tomatoes), drained
• Half an onion
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• Half a teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3 whole cloves
• Half a teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 300g butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
• 1 chayote (a mild, crisp green squash from Caribbean and world food shops) or 1 courgette, cut into chunks
• 150g green beans, topped and halved
• 200g chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 40g masa harina (flour made from nixtamalised corn, that is dried corn cooked in limewater and ground)
• 4 hoja santa leaves (large, peppery, aniseed scented leaves), fresh or dried
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• To serve: 1 lime, cut into wedges

Let's cook

1. Wipe the chillies, snip off the stalks and shake out the seeds. Toast them in a dry frying pan on a medium heat for 20 seconds a side until they smell fruity, then soak them in 400ml just boiled water for 20 minutes.
2. In the same dry pan on a high heat, char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic for 8 to 10 minutes, turning, until blackened in patches. Peel the garlic. Toast the cumin seeds and cloves in the pan for 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Put the chillies and 300ml of their soaking water in a blender with the charred vegetables, toasted spices and oregano. Blend until completely smooth, then push through a sieve for a silky sauce.
4. Heat the oil in a large pan or casserole on a medium high heat. Pour in the sauce, standing back as it spits, and fry it for 5 minutes, stirring, until it darkens a shade.
5. Stir in 800ml water and the salt and bring to a simmer. Add the squash and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Add the chayote and cook for 5 minutes, then add the green beans and mushrooms and cook for 8 to 10 minutes more, until a knife slides easily into the squash and the beans are tender but still bright.
7. Whisk the masa harina with 200ml cold water until smooth. Pour it into the pan in a thin stream, stirring all the time, and simmer for 5 minutes until the mole thickens to the texture of single cream. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick.
8. Tear in the hoja santa leaves and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve in wide bowls with lime wedges and warm corn tortillas.

Tips

• Dried guajillo chillies, masa harina and dried hoja santa are all sold by online Mexican food shops in the UK. If you cannot find hoja santa, a few fresh tarragon leaves with a handful of coriander give a similar aniseed lift.
• Keep leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheat gently until steaming hot, adding a splash of water as the masa thickens it overnight.

Swaps

• Cheaper: use 1 courgette instead of the chayote and a 400g tin of drained chickpeas instead of the mushrooms.
• Not vegan: poach 4 chicken thighs in the water first, then cook the vegetables in that broth, as many Oaxacan cooks do.

Tags

• mole
• oaxacan
• vegan
• squash

None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written. Masa harina made only from corn and lime is gluten free, but check the bag in case it was made alongside wheat. Chillies, hoja santa and spices contain none of the 14.

Check every packet for allergens.