Image: Photography by Celeste
Mole will warm you up on winter days and satisfy your chocolate craving without sugar.
Chocoholics! Mole is a rich traditional Mexican dish. It has a deep and complex chocolate-spicy taste with minimal heat. You may not think that chocolate and chilies go together but the result is superb! 
I am nibbling on some as I write.
Image: Photography by Celeste
After you have tried Chocolate Velvet Mole you will want to grow your own fresh chilies in your garden for a healthy and personalized accent.
Preparation time: 6-8 hours
Ingredients
6 (2 oz) ancho chili pods
6 (2 oz) guajillo chili pods
6 (2 oz) arbol chili pods
2 oz ( 56 grams) of Chile pasilla chilies
2 ounces Poblano chilies
5 chipotle chilies
1 cup raisins
3-5 ripe yellow plantains (they should look brown, like old bananas)
8 garlic cloves
1 medium white onion – peeled and quartered
6 medium to large tomatoes
8 garlic cloves
1 medium white onion – peeled and quartered
6 medium to large tomatoes
3-3 inch piece cinnamon sticks
1 tbls. anise seeds
1 tbls. coriander seeds
1 tbls aromatic cardamon
2 ounces sesame seeds
5 cloves
1 tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried thyme
1 TBS olive oil
(½ cup raw almonds, ½ cup walnuts, ¼ cup raw peanuts-I am allergic to nuts so I did not use)
1 corn tortilla or 1 box animal cookies. I used animal cookies
½ cup soaking liquid
2 cups chicken stock
10 ounces of semi-sweet Baking Chocolate or 1 box Mexican Chocolate
3 lb chicken meat
2 lb other meat but I used all chicken
Salt to taste
2 cups olive oil
Instructions
Remove the seeds and stem from the dry chili pods. This will take time. You may need to wear gloves if you are sensitive to hot peppers.
Place chilies in a dry skillet and toast them until starting to blister.
Place in chilies in a bowl with water covering the chilies. Put a small plate over to keep the chilies submerged to rehydrate them. Hydrate chilies at least 1 hour.
Fry peeled and sliced plantains until very dark. The darker your ingredients the darker your mole will be.
Add the raisins to the skillet and cook for a few minutes until they looked like puffed rice. Put in 1 cup water and soak.
While the chilies are soaking, cook the garlic and onion in the skillet. Cook until charred on all sides. Set aside. When garlic is cool enough, peel it. Add the tomatoes to the skillet. Repeat the process.
Add the sesame seeds, anise, coriander and cinnamon to the pan. Toast for a couple of minutes – until fragrant – stirring constantly. Toast spices until slightly brown.
After toasting using a mortar/pestle or coffee-grinder grind with the cloves until powdered.
If you are going to use nuts, this is the time to toast them in the skillet using a little hot oil. Add the nuts and brown. Set aside.
Next, brown the animal cookies or corn tortilla cookies to the oil and brown well. The browner your fried ingredients, the darker your Mole will be.
Place the hydrated chilies and raisins in a blender with ½ a cup of soaking liquid. Blend well. Transfer to a sieve and strain into a bowl. I like my food chunky, so I did not strain the sauce. Rinse the blender and add all of the other ingredients – except the chocolate – and blend. Pass through a sieve into the same bowl where the chilies are. Mix sauce well.
Place the sauce in a large pot – it will spatter so be careful – and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the chocolate and stir until melted. Simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes.
Add meat and simmer another 30 minutes stirring often. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve this over rice pilaf.
Is it worth the effort? Muy buneo, si! Very good, yes!
You can keep this sauce for up to 6 months in the freezer or you can pints for 2 hours at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure cooker.
Makes 12 cups
Resources:
A combination from two chefs and my own creation:
The Frugal Chef: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcBhQWNtgyg
How to Cook Mexican: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTKqgO0uRQo
http://howtocookmexicanfood.blogspot.mx/
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