Chipotle in Adobo Sauce

Chipotles in Adobo is a staple in Mexican cooking. Most Mexicans buy them ready made in cans particularly because the quality is so good. You can actually buy Chipotle Paste in most London stores now, but they don't have the whole chillies in the sauce - which I think they should be because they are smoky, hot and frankly delicious!

Chipotles are dried, smoked jalapenos and many people (including myself) grow them so I thought I'd put up this recipe. I made it when having a friend visiting recently as I was doing a Mexican feast and I felt it was necessary to have it on the table. It was hot and smoky and lovely. And you can do so much with it. Yesterday I took a few spoonful's, chopped the whole chipotles and mixed it with mayonnaise and lime - and it was insanely good.

The best thing to do, is to blend the chipotles into the sauce to make a delicious chilli sauce. Its hot and bursts with flavour.

Dried chillies are sold in so many places now - I got these chipotle chillies in Brighton when visiting family a while ago as I have used up the dried ones we made from the home-grown batch. In the same store I also got the Ancho (Poblano) chilli that is also in this recipe. But both the chipotle and the ancho chillies are also sold in general supermarkets.

Ingredients:

About 20-25 small dried chipotle chillies
1 large dried Ancho (poblano) chilli
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 carrot, sliced thinly
1 onion, sliced thinly
5 cloves garlic, sliced thickly
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
150g light brown sugar
170ml white wine vinegar
170ml rice vinegar
salt & pepper

Method:

In a small pan, boil the large ancho chilli for 15 minutes until soft. Leave to cool in the water and drain. Put the chilli and the tinned tomatoes into a hand blender and blitz until combined. Set aside.

Boil the chipotle chillies in boiling water the same way until plumped up and softened. Leave in the water to further soak while you make a start on the sauce.

In a large pan, fry the carrot, onion and garlic in 1 tbsp. oil for a few minutes until tender. Add the tomato/chilli mix and stir through. Add the herbs, salt & sugar. Stir and cook on a medium heat to thicken. Now add the vinegars and continue cooking for a further 20 minutes on a simmer. Drain the chipotles and add to the sauce. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes and leave to cool in the pan.

Put the sauce into jars, cover and refrigerate until use. 

OR: use a hand blender to use as a regular chipotle sauce. Delicious!

The canned Mexican variety