Why Mole sauce is one of the most complicated dishes in the world?

Malini VK - Infobite  15-Aug-2020


Mole is the national dish of Mexico. The best-known moles are native to Puebla and Oaxaca states in Mexico city.

Though there are mixed theories about the origin of the sauce, one thing is definite. That this traditional marinade is a combination of local indigenous ingredients, cooking techniques and European colonial influence. So, what is in the sauce?

  • The flavor of this rich and dark sauce is so complicated as it is made up of more than 20 different ingredients. Wood fire and clay pots makes this dish even more complex and unique.

  • Dry chili peppers (ancho or pasilla or mulato or chipotle) - Remove seeds and dry roast until they shrivel up.

  • Clean the chicken and slow boil in just water. Add salt and Hoja santa (Mexican pepper leaf) into the chicken broth while boiling.

  • Deep fry almonds, walnuts, biscuits, chocolate bread in oil. Then goes the spices like black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, black raisins, dried plums into the oil.

  • Plantains, herbs, white sesame seeds are deep fried too. White onions and garlic are tossed into the fire directly to get roasted.

  • Finally, shallow roast both green and red tomatoes. All the roasting, frying, and boiling is done. Now it's time to combine everything.
  • Traditional method is to grind everything by hand using a stone grinder. As it consumes hours and hours of time, grinding can be done using a Molina.

  • While grinding, Mexican chocolate is added as the last ingredient. The thick paste is made into a sauce by boiling with chicken broth.

  • Once the sauce is done, boiled chicken pieces are made to swim in the richness.

  • The mysterious combination of above all ingredients make one hell of a sauce!