The original version of this recipe calls for chochoyotes: simple bread dumplings cooked in your simmering soup. But there wasn’t enough liquid to properly cook the dumplings, so I’ve omitted them from this recipe.
Chilhuacles amarillos are the namesake of this dish, but if you can’t get them even some canned chipotle peppers work. I use just one with some of the sauce and it’s not very spicy.
Without the chochoyotes, it looks like this:
Chiles
Add to a large saucepan:
- 3 large chiles chilhuacles amarillos or chiles guajillos, stemmed and seeded
- 1 cup water
On high heat, bring to boil. Cover the pot, remove from heat, and let sit for 30 minutes. The chiles will soften. (Get crackin’ on the chicken!)
Transfer chile mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.
If you use canned chiles, skip this step completely and add to the blender in the step below.
Mole
Add to a large heavy pot on medium-high:
- 2 tbsp rendered lard or olive/veg oil
Cook:
- 4 whole chicken legs
Brown the chicken, turning once. Around 9 minutes total. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
In the same pot, add:
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 0.5 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
- 4 allspice berries or 0.25 tsp allspice
- 1 whole clove
- 0.5 medium white onion, chopped
- 2 large fresh yellow bell peppers (or chiles güeros/carives/banana/wax)
- 3 medium tomatillos (or tomatoes), husked, rinsed, cored, and chopped.
- 6 garlic cloves, finely sliced or grated
- 2.25 tsp kosher salt
- 0.25 cup cilantro leaves, chopped (or 1 hoja santa leaf)
- 1 dried bay leaf
Stir occasionally to scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until vegetables are tender but before they brown, about 7 minutes.
Add:
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 handful of tortilla chips, crushed
Also add reserved chicken.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 40 minutes. Chicken should be tender and falling off the bone. Transfer chicken to a bowl and let cool slightly.
Carefully add the remaining contents of the pot to a blender. Add the reserved amarillo chile puree. Puree until completely smooth. THis is your mole. Transfer to a large bowl.
Rinse and dry the pot. Return the mole to the pot and bring to a simmer on medium-low heat.
Add:
- 1.5 lbs summer/winter squash (eg., zucchini or butternut), peeled, seeded, and cut into 3 cm pieces
- 1 medium (yukon gold) potato or chayote, peeled (and seeded for chayote) and cut into 3 cm pieces
Simmer until cooked through, about 13 minutes.
At this point, you could make chochoyotes and cook them in the mole.
Serve with the chicken over the mole.
