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Chile Puya Tomatillo Salsa

My new favorite dried chile to cook with is chile puya! It's not as spicy as chile de arbol and gives me just the right amount of heat!
Course Salsa/Sauces
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. tomatillos peel husk and rinse off tomatillos
  • 1 tbsp. avocado
  • 12-14 chile puya remove stems
  • 2-4 large cloves of garlic
  • Handful of fresh cilantro
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Place the peeled and washed tomatillos in 4 cups of water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce the heat and continue cooking for 7-9 minutes or just until tomatillos begin to turn from bright green to opaque green. Remove from heat.
  • In a separate skillet, heat oil to medium heat. Remove the stems from the chile puya and transfer to skillet with oil. Toss the chiles often so they don't burn. They should be aromatic and change slightly in color. Some chiles will become bright red, others may appear darker. Use tongs to transfer to the blender jar. In that same oil, add the cloves of garlic and saute for 3-4 minutes. Transfer to the blender with chiles.
  • To the chiles in blender, pour 1 cup of the cooking water from the reserved tomatillos. Blend chiles first, on high, until very smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides or add a little more water so it blends smooth. Drain most of the water from remaining tomatillos and transfer to the blender with chile sauce. Add washed cilantro and salt to taste. Again, blend on high until very smooth. Taste for salt. Pour into serving bowl.
  • Now, if you want a smoother, better tasting salsa that will last a few days longer, do this! Transfer the blended salsa to a pot and heat to medium. When it comes up to a boil, reduce the heat, Continue cooking the salsa for 8-10 minutes. Pour hot salsa in glass jars with tight lids. Let cool and then refrigerate to store. You will lose the fresh cilantro flavor once salsa is cooked though. You could serve it either way. Salsa will last 10 days or more refrigerated.

Notes

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.