This is the second mole recipe that I’ve made from Quinta Brava in Oaxaca, and I found it was a lot easier to make than the mole negro. There is no chocolate in this — the star ingredient is peanuts. It makes a delightfully peanutty sauce that goes well with chicken in a taco or on rice. The chiles give it a little heat, but it’s just a kick and not overwhelming. Make this the next time you want an alternative to more common Mexican dishes, or when you have some peanuts you want to use up.

250 grams peanuts
3/8 cup sesame seeds
2 chipotle meco chiles (smoked jalapeños), roughly chopped*
4 tomatillos (about the size of a ping pong ball or smaller)
2 tomatoes
1/4 onion (or 1 shallot)
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 allspice berry
1 peppercorn
1 clove
1 stick cinnamon
1 piece of bread
chicken broth (about a quart)
salt to taste
oil

*Chipotle meco chiles have a wonderfully smoky quality that are different from regular chipotles and can sometimes be found dried in a Mexican grocery. If you substitute regular chipotles, add maybe a teaspoon of liquid smoke to the mole to recapture some of the smoky flavor. You can remove the seeds to make a milder sauce, but it’s not necessary as these aren’t terribly spicy.

Toast the peanuts in a dry pan on medium heat, or a comal if you have one. Stir every minute or so to keep them from burning. When they have a nice brown color, add the sesame seeds, all the spices, and the chiles.

In a saucepan on high heat, toast the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, and garlic. You want to get a good sear on the veggies to break them down and add some additional flavor to the mole.

Then, add the rest of the ingredients and boil with chicken broth. Note that if you are using dried chiles, you might want to add some extra liquid to the pot. (When I first made this, I tried soaking the dried chiles in water first, then threw the water in as well to preserve the smoky flavor that had soaked out. It will cook down and help soften everything up for the next step.

When the mix has cooked down from a soup to a sauce (use your best judgment here), take it off the heat. When it’s cooked enough to handle, put it in a blender and puree. Depending on the sharpness of your blender blades, you might want to remove the cinnamon stick first and replace it with some ground cinnamon.

When you’re happy with the consistency of your puree, then move it back to the stove and sautee in a pan with oil on high heat, stirring frequently to prevent it from browning. The amount of oil you add depends on how you want the consistency of your mole; more oil will help soften and smooth it a bit. Add salt to taste.

Serve in a taco or over rice. Leftover sauce can be saved in a jar in the refrigerator for a couple weeks or so.