Salsa Macha

Ingredients

• 300ml neutral oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower
• 40g chiles de árbol (about 30 chiles)
• 3 chiles morita
• 2 guajillo chiles
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• 80g raw peanuts, skins on
• 40g sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp grated piloncillo or brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano

Before you cook

• Pull the stems off all the chiles. Leave the seeds in for a hotter salsa, or shake them out for a milder one.
• Tear the guajillos and moritas into pieces roughly the size of the árbol chiles so everything fries at the same rate.
• Peel the garlic cloves and leave them whole.
• Set a wide heatproof bowl and a slotted spoon next to the stove.

Steps

1. Pour the oil into a wide frying pan and set it over medium-low heat.
2. Drop in one chile as a test. When it sizzles steadily rather than violently, the oil is ready at about 140C.
3. Add the whole garlic cloves and fry them for three minutes, turning, until golden but not brown.
4. Lift the garlic out with the slotted spoon into the bowl.
5. Add the peanuts and fry them for three minutes, until they are one shade darker, then lift them into the bowl.
6. Add the sesame seeds and fry for forty-five seconds, until they turn pale gold, then lift them out too.
7. Take the pan off the heat and let the oil cool for two minutes, because chiles burn far faster than nuts.
8. Put the pan back on the lowest heat and add all the chiles at once.
9. Fry the chiles for ninety seconds, stirring constantly, until they turn glossy and deepen in colour. Pull them off the moment they smell sharp and acrid rather than sweet, as burnt chiles ruin the whole batch.
10. Take the pan off the heat and let everything cool in the oil for fifteen minutes.
11. Tip the chiles and oil into the bowl with the garlic, peanuts and sesame.
12. Add the vinegar, salt, piloncillo and oregano.
13. Pulse the whole lot in a food processor in short bursts, or pound it in a molcajete, until it is a coarse rubble with recognisable bits of peanut and chile. Do not let it become a paste.
14. Taste and add more salt or a splash more vinegar to sharpen it.
15. Pour the salsa into a clean jar, making sure the solids sit under a layer of oil, and keep it in the fridge for up to a month.
16. Spoon it over eggs, grilled meat, quesadillas or a bowl of pozole.