This recipe is a game changer. You need this one in your life. It’s a bit of a faff and you will need to do a bit of online ingredient ordering in preparation, but a batch should last a fairly long time. One word of warning – if you share the love and give a jar away to family or friends, you will inevitably receive requests for a refill!
It is basically an intense, smoky, fiery, slightly sweet chilli paste that can be added to all sorts of dishes and is seriously addictive. I add a couple of tablespoons to my chilli con carne, mix it into mayonnaise for a spicy chicken sandwich, stir it into creme fraiche for an amazing dip with crisps or crudites. I use it in marinades for meat and vegetables, mix it with oil and vinegar for a spicy salad dressing, fold it into soft butter to make a chipotle butter, stir into salsa…the list goes on.
A chipotle is a dried, smoked jalapeño chilli. You can now find chipotles in most big supermarkets, but they come in small packets and you will only get a handful for about £3. However, if you look online, you can buy huge bags for a much better price. I have found that the flavour and the level of heat can vary from batch to batch – I tend to order mine online from casamexico.co.uk and I’m pretty happy with these ones.
The recipe is from Thomasina Miers’ brilliant book, “Mexican Food Made Simple”. I bought this book about 10 years ago and promptly fell head over heels in love with Mexican food, stocking my kitchen with all manner of dried chillies and a vast stock of avocados! It dramatically altered my cooking style for a good few years, and I still come back to certain recipes from it regularly.
Ingredients
- 200g chipotle chillies (about 65)
- 1 large white onion, roughly chopped
- 1 head of garlic, cloves roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons of fresh oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
- 1-2 tablespoons of thyme leaves
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds crushed
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 350ml of good-quality white wine vinegar
- 50ml of good-quality balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons of tomato purée
- 7 tablespoons of Demerara or palm sugar
- 2 tablespoons of sea salt
Wash the chipotles in cold water and drain. Snip the stalk end off each chilli with scissors – this will help the chillies to rehydrate more effectively.
Cover the chillies with water in a medium pan and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until they are completely soft. Drain in a colander and rinse off any excess seeds.
Put the onion, garlic, all of the herbs and the cumin into a blender or food processor with 200ml of water and six of the chillies and purée to a smooth paste. You can also do this with a stick blender.
Get out your largest, heavy bottomed pan and heat up the olive oil until it is smoking hot. Add the chilli paste and fry for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly – you don’t want it to catch or burn on the bottom.
Add the vinegars, tomato purée, sugar, salt and another 100ml of water and cook for 5 more minutes before adding the rest of the chillies. By now your kitchen will be full of eye-watering vinegar/chilli vapours, so you might need to open a window!
Cook for a further 15 minutes, constantly stirring, then check the seasoning (salt or sugar). You can keep the chillies whole, as they are, but I like to use a stick blender to purée the whole lot – I find it much easier to use in subsequent recipes that way. Store in clean, sterilised jam or kilner jars. Once each jar is opened, you will need to store it in the fridge, otherwise they will be fine in the kitchen cupboard.
