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Salsa de chile pasilla, smoky dried chilli salsa
The dark table salsa of Oaxaca, made from toasted dried chillies, tart tomatillos and charred garlic, blended and fried so it turns deep brick red. It is smoky, sharp and hot, and goes on everything from memelas to mole.
- 25 minutes
- Prep 10 minutes
- Cook 15 minutes
- Serves 4
Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.
Ingredients
- 3 dried pasilla chillies (long, black and raisiny)
- 2 dried chipotle chillies (smoked dried jalapeños)
- 200g tinned tomatillos (tart green husk tomatoes), drained
- 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- A quarter of a white onion
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Half a teaspoon fine salt
- Juice of half a lime
Let's cook
- Wipe the chillies, snip off the stalks and shake out most of the seeds (keep a few for more heat).
- Toast the chillies in a dry frying pan on a medium heat for 20 to 30 seconds a side, pressing them flat, until they smell rich. Do not let them burn. Soak them in 250ml just boiled water for 15 minutes.
- In the same dry pan on a high heat, char the garlic and onion for 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until soft and blackened in patches. Peel the garlic.
- Put the drained chillies, tomatillos, garlic, onion and 100ml of the soaking water in a blender and blend until fairly smooth, with a little texture left.
- Heat the oil in a small pan on a medium high heat, pour in the salsa, standing back as it spits, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until it darkens and thickens.
- Take it off the heat, stir in the salt and lime juice and taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips
- In Oaxaca this salsa is made with chile pasilla oaxaqueño, a red, smoke dried chilli grown in the Mixe hills. Pasilla and chipotle together give a close match; both are sold by online Mexican food shops and spice merchants in the UK.
- Keep the salsa in a clean covered jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Swaps
- Milder: use 4 pasilla chillies and no chipotle.
- No tomatillos: use 2 ripe tomatoes, charred with the garlic, and a little more lime.
Tags
None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written. Some tinned tomatillos have added acidity regulators; none of the 14 is usually among them, but check the label.
Check every packet for allergens.