Traditional Mexican Mole (Vegan Friendly)

FACT: Traditional Mexican Mole is chocolate sauce that is usually served as a savoury dish, typically over white meat.

TEMPTATION: Now you can try it for yourself with our vegan-friendly simplified version of the recipe.

ORIGINS: Legend has it that mole sauce came about by an accident born of necessity. 2 nuns from a convent went into a panic when they were told the Archbishop was coming to visit. The cupboards were almost bare, they had no money for supplies, but somehow they had to muster up a feast. So they got creative. They used a molcajete (mortar and pestle) to grind together what random ingredients they did have and then simmered this in liquid until it thickened into a sauce. Into the pot went chocolate, nuts, chilli peppers, spices and some other miscellany. They killed an old turkey they had, cooked it and put the sauce on top. And guess what? Apparently the archbishop loved it.

It has become such a quintessential Mexican cuisine, it’s recognised as a national dish. There are many traditional mole recipes around that take all day to cook and use both lard and chicken stock. Inspired by Keith our Beloved Chocolate Shaman’s healthier simplified version, we’ve tweaked it to create our own version here…

Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 small onion diced
3 medium cloves of garlic
75g of Sacred Mayan Cacao, ground finely
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
3 Medium bananas (lady fingers work well)
1/2 teaspoon ground Cayenne Pepper (this makes it a medium spicy flavour)
2 fresh diced tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped almonds or macadamia nuts
A pinch of Salt (Sea Salt or Himalayan)
2 Cups of boiling water (add more if you wish for taste and consistency)
2 cloves
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
1/4 cup raisins, soaked in water to soften (optional)

Method
1. Heat oil in heavy based pot on stove.
2. Chop onion & garlic and start frying it in the oil, add a pinch of celtic or himalayan salt.
3. Add cayenne pepper, stir through and let it fry a bit.
4. Add chopped banana, stir through and let it fry a bit.
5. Add Nuts, stir through and let it fry a bit.
6. Add Tomato, stir through and let it fry a bit.
7. Add Sacred Mayan Cacao, anise, clove and cinnamon, stir through and let it fry a bit.
8. Turn the heat down low, add 2 cups of boiling water, stir through all ingredients well until blended.
9. Let it simmer for 40 minutes.
10. Take it off the heat, let it stop bubbling…add more water if needed according to taste & desired consistency. It should be thick like gravy.
11. Use a hand held mixer or blender to blend all ingredients until it’s a smooth gravy.
12. Drizzle over your favourite vegetables.

Enjoy!