Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes minutes
Total Time 20 minutes minutes
If you cannot find dried chile puya, you can substitute with chile costeno. Second option would be to use 2 large chile guajillo with 6 chile de arbol. I make it a habit to cook my blended salsas for 10 minutes afterwards. It improves the texture, flavor and extends the life of the salsa for a few days more. That is up to you. If you are new to cooking with dried chiles, toasting them can be intimidating. Typically I would dry toast them on a comal(griddle). I like to add them to the cooking surface when it's cold and then turn the heat to medium. As soon as the peppers become aromatic and you can see a light smoke, turn them. Then it is just a matter of a minute or so and it's ready. It's ok if it blackens in some spots. Frying the dried chiles in a little bit of neutral oil is easy too, but you cannot walk away! The chiles will become aromatic, blister sometimes and turn bright red. Not all of them do this. Some will just become shiny and blacken a little. I like to use a lightweight skillet when I fry or dry toast big amounts of chiles because I can pour them onto a plate a lot easier if they begin to toast too fast. Soaking them after toasting is not a bad idea, especially if you don't have a power blender. Some dried chile skins can be tough to break down.