A traditional Oaxacan red salsa made in a molcajete with roasted tomatoes, toasted dried chilies, garlic, a little white onion, and salt. Its texture should remain rustic, thick, hot, and slightly smoky, as a salsa to serve with a tlayuda.
Ingredients
- 6 pieces very ripe Roma tomatoes
- 18 g dried árbol chilies
- 2 pieces dried Oaxacan pasilla chilies
- 2 cloves fresh garlic
- 40 g white onion
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 60 ml hot water
Method
- Heat a comal, cast-iron skillet, or heavy skillet over medium-high heat, without any fat. The surface should be very hot but not heavily smoking.
- Place the tomatoes, unpeeled garlic, and piece of onion on the hot surface. Roast them, turning regularly with tongs, until the tomato skins blister and blacken in places and the flesh becomes soft under pressure. The garlic should be tender and the onion marked with brown spots, without becoming charred.
- Remove the garlic as soon as it is soft, then remove the onion when it smells sweet and roasted. Continue cooking the tomatoes if necessary, until they release a little juice and their skins come away naturally.
- Lower the heat slightly. Remove the stems from the dried chilies, open them quickly, and remove some of the excess seeds for cleaner heat if desired. Place them on the hot comal and press them briefly with a spatula, turning them as soon as they become glossy, fragrant, and slightly more pliable. They should smell toasted, never acrid or burnt.
- Transfer the toasted chilies to a small bowl and cover them with hot water. Let them soften until they bend easily between your fingers. Keep the soaking water close at hand.
- Peel the roasted garlic. In a molcajete, first grind the salt with the garlic until you have a rough, fragrant paste. Add the roasted onion and continue grinding, pressing it against the sides until it breaks down into a coarse purée.
- Add the rehydrated chilies to the molcajete. Grind them patiently until the skins are torn into small fragments and the paste turns dark red. If the mixture sticks too much, loosen it with a little soaking water.
- Add the roasted tomatoes one at a time, with their juices. Crush them with the pestle without seeking a smooth texture: the salsa should remain thick, with fine pieces of roasted skin and pulp. Scrape the sides of the molcajete to combine everything.
- Adjust the texture with the reserved soaking water, adding only enough to obtain a spoon-coating, rustic sauce. It should sit on a spoon, flow slowly, and show flecks of chili and tomato.
- Taste and correct the salt. Let it rest at room temperature before serving so the heat can meld into the roasted tomato. Serve in the molcajete or a small bowl with a tlayuda, tortillas, beans, or grilled meats.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 36.2 kcal
- Protein
- 1.46 g
- Carbohydrate
- 6.67 g
- Fat
- 1.08 g
- Fibre
- 2.6 g
- Calcium
- 3.75 mg
- Iron
- 0.09 mg
- Magnesium
- 3.08 mg
