Ingredients
MOLE SAUCE
- 350ml vegetable stock
- 1 dried ancho chilli, see notes below
- 1 dried chipotle chilli, see notes below
- 1 slice white bread, torn into rough strips
- ½ x 400g tin plum tomatoes
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 20g unsalted peanuts, finely chopped
- 30g raisins
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- 50g vegan dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
PICKLED ONIONS
- ½ red onion, finely sliced
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- 1 lime, juiced
TACOS
- 4 green peppers, halved and deseeded
- 10-12 small corn tortillas
- a small bunch coriander, chopped
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Method
- STEP 1
Bring 250ml of the vegetable stock to a boil in a pan over a medium heat. Toast the dried chillies and bread strips in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes, flipping regularly, until hot and fragrant. Tip them into the boiling stock and remove from the heat. Soak for 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes, transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- STEP 2
Heat the rapeseed oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat, then add the onion, garlic, peanuts, raisins, thyme and spices. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onions are soft. Add everything to the food processor with the chillies and blend until smooth.
- STEP 3
Pour the purée back into the pan and stir in the remaining 100ml of stock, chocolate, sugar and pinch of sea salt. Bring to a simmer and stir regularly for 10 minutes or until the mixture has reduced and is thick – it should coat the back of a spoon.
- STEP 4
To make the pickled onions, mix together the onion, chilli and lime juice in a small bowl. Cover and chill for 20 minutes, until the onions are bright pink.
- STEP 5
To assemble the tacos, put the peppers on a BBQ over white-hot coals until slightly blackened and blistered, or under a hot grill until charred. Flip and repeat until fully cooked and quite soft, then remove from the heat and tear into pieces.
- STEP 6
Heat a tortilla over the heat of the BBQ or a griddle pan for a few seconds. Top with a good spoonful of mole sauce, some grilled pepper and a few pickled onions. Finish with a sprinkle of coriander and a squeeze of lime.
Ancho chillies are dried poblano chilli peppers. Chipotle chillies are smoke-dried jalapeño chillies. Both are available from Waitrose and online
